Vignette Nine - The Lingering Scent of Lavender
by jellybean49
Summary: Jack and Elizabeth move to a mysterious new town and it's nothing like they expected.
1. Chapter 1

_**Dear Readers: This is 9**_ _ **th**_ _ **of my vignettes. They go in sequential order, but each one has a different unique theme. I hope you have fun reading all of them.**_

 _"_ _Jack and Elizabeth Vignette One"_

 _"_ _Vignette Two – The Cold Winter" (Jack and Elizabeth cope with the rough winter)_

 _"_ _Vignette Three – The Test: Don't Fail Me Now" – (It's fun and romantic)_

"Vignette Four – Gypsy Woes" (The most light-hearted in my mind)

"Vignette Five - Blind Faith" (Drama, Suspense, New Friends, and powerful love.)

"Vignette Six - Wedding Dust" (The romance of getting married and the hours afterwards)

"Vignette Seven - The Rules of being a Wife." (Jack and Elizabeth's first weeks as husband and wife)

"Vignette Eight –Changes" (A mystery of who injured Elizabeth.)

 _(Another writer has written a story and called it a vignette. It is not written by me and I have nothing to do with it. All my vignettes are by jellybean49.)_

* * *

 **Vignette 9 – The Lingering Scent of Lavender **

**Chapter 1 - The Hilltop Welcome**

The dirt made a thudding sound as it landed after being tossed by the men with shovels.

Shovelful after shovelful.

It wasn't the nice pleasant sound made by a little spade when one prepared a garden and imagined an abundance of fresh green vegetables growing from the earth.

And it wasn't the hopeful joyous sound made when a smiling man dug the foundation of a home for his new bride.

It wasn't even the laborious sound made when a row of sweating men with tired muscles moved miles of dirt to make way for the railroad.

It was the sad sound of finality of a shovelful of dirt hitting wood.

Elizabeth stood apart from the crowd, watching from a distance from her position high on the hill.

Jack had forbidden her from going any closer.

* * *

When Elizabeth and Jack had left Hope Valley more than a week ago, children had stopped playing ball in the street to run after their wagon, laughing and yelling goodbye to their beloved teacher and town constable until they could no longer keep up. Shopkeepers sweeping the wooden sidewalks in front of their businesses had stopped swishing their brooms to wave. The lumberjacks on the edge of the woods had relaxed their arms, wiped their brows, and nodded or raised a hand in well wishing.

Hope Valley. Even its name had held promise.

This new town was nothing like Hope Valley.

* * *

During the long trip from Hope Valley, Elizabeth had imagined how it would be to be welcomed into this new town. Although they had planned to visit months ago - ahead of their actual move, their unfortunate encounter with a trio of less than upstanding citizens had changed those plans. And so, they had recently packed up and left Hope Valley without Elizabeth ever having seen this town. The place which would be her home for the next 12 months.

She had envisioned ladies dropping off warm dinners or baskets of freshly baked muffins for her and Jack. Mothers stopping by to introduce their children to the new school teacher. Telling Elizabeth about their sons and daughters. The subjects they had already mastered. What they needed to learn. Which were the troublesome boys with whom she needed to have a strong hand. Which were the shy little ones who needed encouragement and mothering.

She had imagined businessmen knocking on their door, eager to meet the town's new Mountie and maybe to drop off a box of candy for her or a jar of jam from the mercantile. Telling Jack about places for fishing and hunting. Where to find a good card game. The names of the town drunks, who needed to be encouraged to go home when the restaurant and saloon closed for the night.

But it hadn't been like that at all.

Jack and Elizabeth had been here four days and she hadn't met a single person.

Elizabeth had waved to people from a distance. A few had waved back. Some had merely nodded. Most had ignored her, enveloped in their own thoughts.

No one had knocked on their hotel door.

There had been no muffins or dinners. No candy or jam. No parents eager to talk about their children.

If anyone wanted to speak to Jack, they had done it briefly when he out riding or walking through town.

Everyone was careful to keep their distance.

* * *

Now, standing outside on the grassy hill, Elizabeth turned her eyes away from the crowd of people and looked off in the distance, towards the charred remains of the school house.

She and Jack had passed it when they had come to town four days ago. At first, Elizabeth had ignored the black pile of rubble. She had swiveled her head around at the various buildings, looking for the school. She had seen the barbershop, the mercantile, the land office, the Mountie office and jail, two Cafes, and a few other establishments. She had seen houses and barns and a livery.

But no school. Only a pile of burned wood where it should have been.

It was when her eyes spied the broken chalkboard amongst the debris that she knew it had once been the school.

The books. The chalkboard. The desks. Even the erasers. The townspeople had insisted that it all be burned until there was nothing left but ash. Only some pieces of metal, and the slate from the chalkboard had survived.

Now Elizabeth stood alone on a hill.

She was a school teacher without a school.

* * *

Elizabeth looked down at her hands. Despite the warm day, she was wearing gloves. They weren't winter gloves, but dainty ladies gloves. The type usually worn for social etiquette rather than warmth.

Jack had insisted that she wear gloves and she had rummaged through their crates of belongings until she found several pairs in perfect condition, still wrapped in thin paper and in their original cardboard boxes.

When she had lived in Hamilton, Elizabeth had never left the house without wearing a pair of pale-colored day gloves. Ever since she had been a small child, she had known that to appear in public without proper lady hand-covering was simply unheard of in her social settings, as in most places. It would have been like leaving the house without brushing one's hair or walking barefoot down the street.

She had worn them when she had first arrived in Hope Valley, then called Coal Valley. But after a few weeks, they had become an afterthought. If they were on the table by the door, she would grab them and put them on. But more often than not, she had misplaced them or they were smudged with dirt and therefore, unacceptable to wear.

Ladies' gloves simply hadn't been practical in Hope Valley. She was forever getting them soiled with chalk dust from her hands, or jam and peanut butter when she instinctively wiped a child's face, or dirt when a small child grabbed her hand to walk with her. She had long ago given up wearing a pair of gloves for any reason but to keep her hands warm in the wintertime.

And yet, now, she was wearing them again. In the summer. _I suppose they'll keep the sun off my hands,_ she thought as she looked at the fine stitching of the pair covering her delicate hands.

Jack had insisted and so, she wore them.

* * *

The sound of a dog barking caused Elizabeth to look up from her gloved hands and she noticed that Jack was now walking up the hill with another man.

After all of Jack's many reminders that she was to stay away from the townspeople, Elizabeth was surprised that he was allowing another man to approach her.

As she watched from her vantage point on the hill, Elizabeth saw the shaking shoulders of the women and men dressed in black as the crowd below started to disperse.

When the men with shovels finished covering the small casket, they moved onto the next casket. And then the next.

Instinctively, Elizabeth held out her hand in greeting to the man in black, the thin white collar around his neck tacitly identifying him. He looked at her outstretched gloved hand but didn't offer his. At the same time, Jack gently took ahold of elbow and pulled her hand back, keeping her at least four feet from the man, who spoke in a gravelly voice.

"Welcome to Bear Creek."

The irony of his words was not lost on Elizabeth.

* * *

Hours later, Jack sat on the hotel bed watching Elizabeth change out of her clothes and into her nightdress.

"I should have left you back in Hope Valley."

"It's too late for that now. I'm here. And by the way, just for future reference, that's not exactly the kind of thing a wife likes to hear", Elizabeth added with a small chuckle.

They had discussed this over and over for the past four days.

What to do with Elizabeth.

"Did they really have to burn down the school? And all those beautiful books?", she asked, suddenly somber again.

For the first time since they had arrived in Bear Creek, Jack gave a faint smile. "You didn't see any of the books. How do you know they were beautiful?"

"All books are beautiful", Elizabeth said as if it were obvious.

"Well, to answer your question, yes. They did. I spoke to the town doctor again. There wasn't any available sulphur, and even if there was, there was no guarantee that the schoolhouse could have been totally disinfected. It would have had to have been totally sealed shut for the sulphur to work, and there were just too many chinks and cracks in it. Even now that the antitoxins have arrived, the town didn't want to risk any more cases. The books had all been handled, as had probably everything else in the building."

"If we lived near a big city, the children could have had better treatment", Elizabeth remarked with a forlorn slight shake of her head.

"I don't know if it would have mattered. Some people are just more susceptible. A couple years back, President Cleveland, in the United States, his daughter died from it. And she probably had the best possible care. From what the doc said, the young and old are susceptible.

"So they had to burn down the school", Elizabeth conceded sadly.

Jack walked the few feet across the hotel room to where Elizabeth was now hanging up her clothing in the small closet. Wrapping his arms around her, he spoke apologetically before giving her a kiss.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. I know this isn't how we thought things would be."

Elizabeth smiled at the feel of her husband's lips on her before she moved away and picked up her hairbrush, handing it to him.

After pulling back the quilt of the bed, she sank into the soft mattress, sitting at an angle as Jack moved to sit next to her. He lifted her long hair from around her shoulders and began moving the brush through it.

"I'll be fine. It should only be a few more days and then things will get back to normal around here. Whatever that is. In the meantime, I'll keep busy by writing."

"Your typewriter's still packed away in a crate and I thought you already wrote a letter to Abigail. And my family. And your family. And each of your students in Hope Valley. We've been gone from Hope Valley less than two weeks and you've already used up most of the paper in this place. Do we even know anyone left to write to?", he teased.

Elizabeth grinned. "Now I'm writing to the baby."

"To the baby?" Jack furrowed his brow in confusion.

"I was thinking of writing more short stories and well, I thought, what would be a better way of remembering everything and keeping a journal than to write to the baby. I started a new journal just for him or her."

"You do realize it will be years until the little thing can read . . . even if you are the best teacher in the world," Jack said with a grin.

"I do. Which means, I may need a few journals!"

* * *

The diphtheria had spread through Bear Creek and the outlying areas, leaving its residents with hoarse voices, worrisome breathing, fevers and chills, and in a few cases, death. The townspeople, desperate to know how it had been transmitted and how to stop it, had focused on the schoolhouse.

It was a likely place for airborne droplets from sneezing and coughing children to land on a variety of surfaces. Surfaces which were then touched by more children as they shared desks and traded pencils and books. Children who had laughed and giggled and wiped their noses on their sleeves and with their hands before sharing their drinking cups at lunch time.

And the children, even if they didn't succumb themselves, had carried the germs home to their families.

While the town had tended to its sick and waited for anti-toxins to arrive, it had done the only things it could think to do.

Quarantine the sick.

And burn down the school.

* * *

Even if Elizabeth was willing to risk her own health, neither she nor Jack was willing to risk her pregnancy. Until all danger was gone, she was to remain isolated away from the townspeople. Jack was careful to stand back from those taken ill and he made it a habit to wash his hands when he came back to the hotel room, even before greeting Elizabeth.

Elizabeth wouldn't have minded the isolationism too much, except . . . sometimes . . when Jack was gone on rounds and trying to familrize himself with the area and she was all alone. . sometimes . . .

. . . . in the back of her mind . . .

she had the uncanny feeling that she wasn't alone, even though she knew that she was.

Someone - or something - seemed to be lingering around in the air.

Hovering around her while she wrote in the baby's journal. While she dressed. When she ate. When she read a novel.

Something she couldn't describe.

. . . But she could feel its presence.

Creeping up on her.

Like a mist.

Ready to envelope her.

 **Up next: Chapter 2- Their New Home**


	2. Chapter 2 - The New Home

**Chapter Two – A New Home**

The town's last Mountie had lived in a small one room cabin in the middle of the woods. When Elizabeth and Jack had looked at simple wooden structure, they had both agreed immediately that the 20 foot by 20 foot building wouldn't do at all as their new home.

It was too small. Too far from town. And as Elizabeth observed, too close to nature with its spiders and cracks between the walls where rodents entered. It has only been empty for a few weeks, but the squirrels had already managed to make a nest on the front porch.

The cabin was nearly barren with only a simple metal framed bed meant for one, a small nightstand, a stove, an ice box, and a kitchen table with one sole chair. As Elizabeth looked around the building, she made a mental list of what would be required to make it into a suitable home. _It needs a rug . . . more furniture . . . throw pillows . . . curtains . . . a double bed! . . . another window to let some more light in . . . . plumbing . . . and at least another 100 feet of space_.

The only things the cabin had going for it were privacy. . although, perhaps a little too much, Elizabeth thought, and that it was still standing.

The same couldn't be said for the home of the last school teacher.

The town's last teacher had lived in a small room above the school. He was single and had eaten most of his dinners with the town's citizens, who rotated inviting him to their home, ensuring that he always had a full belly and hadn't needed a kitchen. When the town burned down the school, they had burned down the only housing designated for the town's teacher.

The town's new Mountie and town's new teacher, the young Thornton couple, were homeless.

* * *

After too many days of staying at the Bear Creek hotel, the keys to their new home clinked in Jack's pocket as he and Elizabeth walked down the street hand in hand in the early morning.

When the mayor had told him where they could live, Jack's first thought was that he was lucky to be married to Elizabeth. She had proved herself to be quite adaptable since she had first left Hamilton to begin a life as a teacher. First living in Abigail's' row home, then above the Café, and later in their own home in Hope Valley.

 _She's adaptable_. _And a good sport_. _At least I hope she is._

When Jack stopped walking, he smiled at Elizabeth and motioned towards their new home. "This is it."

"A mercantile? You must be joking", Elizabeth said in disbelief.

Elizabeth watched as Jack chuckled and put the key into the front door, unlocking it, and then swinging it open. The movement of the door caused the jingling of the bell over it to greet them. It was a friendly musical welcome despite the cloud of dust that puffed up from the wooden floor as they stepped inside.

"It's only for a year. It comes with a reduced rent since the town burned down the school and left us without a room. And the Mounties will pay some of the rent because I'm married and the cabin's not suitable. There's nothing else in town."

"You're serious?"

"Think of it this way. There's plenty of room for us, and the new baby when he or she arrives, and Rip and Comet. We're close to everything. And best of all, because it's in the center of town, no outhouse. It comes with a real bathroom."

The sign "MacIntre's Mercantile" still hung above the door although it hadn't occupied the space in more than six months, having moved into a newer and bigger building farther down the street. Elizabeth noticed that the "MacIntre "name was also painted in large green letters on the big glass store-front windows.

"I think we can take this sign out of the window", Elizabeth said as she took the cardboard advertisement which read "Eggs .30 cents a dozen" out of the window and turned to smile at Jack.

* * *

Besides having a bathroom, Elizabeth was thrilled to find out that the previous store owner had lived in the mercantile and had installed electricity.

Elizabeth made her way through the building, running her finger along the dust-covered counter which stretched across a side wall, a reminder of the building's recent past as a store.

The back room where the store owner had slept was big enough for a double bed and a dresser. They could even fit two nightstands in it. There was just one tiny closet but Elizabeth reasoned that Jack could easily put hooks on the walls for some of their things.

Looking out window, Elizabeth observed the back alley. It wouldn't be too loud at night and the window let in some light. The curtains were ugly but they would provide privacy _. I can always change them_ , she thought as she looked around, feeling slightly giddy at the idea of a new home.

Next to bedroom was another room, which had been used for both storage and as a small office. It would be their kitchen. There was already a sink with a small counter, an ice box, and a stove, although Elizabeth wasn't sure if the previous owner had ever cooked with it or just used it for heat.

The front room was enormous compared to their cottage in Hope Valley. It was longer than it was wide and meant for rows of shelves and customers, but it would do well as a parlor and dining room.

"I feel like I'm on display" Elizabeth said with a laugh as she stood in front of the large plate glass window that ran the length of the store's front and looked out onto the street.

"We'll get some curtains from the mercantile"

"We _are_ the mercantile", Elizabeth replied with a smirk.

"From the real mercantile", Jack responded with a grin.

He walked over and stood behind her, his arms around her waist as she looked out the window. When he kissed her on the cheek, he realized how much he had missed being with her. They had barely touched each other while staying at the hotel with its paper-thin walls.

"Is it okay with you?"

Elizabeth leaned her head back against his strong body. "It's okay", she answered with contentment. "We'll make it a home."

"Good", he whispered huskily as he placed kisses along her neck. "Because we need a home."

Elizabeth giggled. "We need privacy."

"Have I told you lately that I love you?" he whispered as he turned her around and, without waiting for an answer, he tasted her lips.

* * *

Elizabeth was kneeling on the floor surrounded by crates and unpacking some pots and pans when she thought she felt Jack coming up behind her. She spoke to him without turning to look.

"Have you seen the small crate with the good dishes anywhere?"

When Jack didn't respond, Elizabeth turned around and frowned slightly when she realized that she was all alone.

Despite the hot summer heat, a shiver went down her spine as she got the feeling that she was being watched.

"Jack, were you just in here?" she called out.

"What'd you say?" he asked as he entered from the other room carrying a box of their things.

"Were you just in here?"

"No. Why? Do you need something?"

Elizabeth sighed and shook her body to get rid of the uneasiness. "No. I was just wondering if you've seen the crate with the dishes."

* * *

Elizabeth had decided to initially concentrate on getting the kitchen organized. Until Jack took one look at her with her flushed cheeks and tousled hair as she knelt on the floor. She had undone several of her blouse's buttons due to the heat, and when she bent over a box to rifle through it, Jack's eyes were drawn to her cleavage.

"Forget the dishes. Look for the bed sheets and pillows", he instructed.

"I was going to do the kitchen things first", she replied without looking up, as she continued to search through the cooking supplies.

"You don't make me think of the kitchen", he said as set down the box, and picked up his hammer.

Elizabeth barely paid attention to his comment until the sound of hammering from the bedroom made her put down the cooking pans.

Curiously, she went to the bedroom doorway and looked inside. The new box spring and mattress were leaning up against the wall as Jack, with the top buttons of his undone shirt exposing his skin, hammered together the bed frame which he had purchased at the mercantile that morning.

Elizabeth looked admiringly at his strong arms. His sleeves were rolled up and his taut muscles had the sheen of sweat from the heat trapped in the store. With each swing of the hammer pounding in a nail, she felt her pulse quicken.

"Aw, the heck with the bed frame", Jack said when he looked at her standing in the doorway, her blouse sticking to her body which was moist from perspiration.

He moved across the room and threw the mattress onto the floor before striding over to her and pulling her into his arms. He was all man. Sweat. Muscles. Desire.

His mouth was warm. Moist. Possessive. He never took his lips off her as he lowered her to the mattress. His hands touched her through her thin blouse, exciting her, before he quickly undid the remaining buttons and tore it off her.

* * *

The next afternoon, Elizabeth felt exasperated as she looked around their new home for the letter she had planned to send to her parents. Earlier in the day, she had written to her family, giving them the couple's new address and asking them to send school supplies and books if possible. She wanted to send it out before the post office closed for the day and now she couldn't find the letter anywhere.

She was becoming so absent-minded with the move and the pregnancy that she couldn't remember where she had set down the envelope. Elizabeth was about to burst into tears of frustration when a breeze blew through the open window and floated the letter across the room, where it landed in front of her.

 _Thank you_ , she thought silently with a huge sigh of relief.

Although, there was no one to thank.

After all, it had only been the wind.

* * *

The air was heavy. Hot. Sticky.

Elizabeth could almost smell a storm coming. _Heck, I just have to look in the mirror to know a storm's coming,_ Elizabeth thought with a smile as she looked at her reflection in the store's front window and saw her hair tightly curled by the humidity.

She looked at the building across the street and smiled again as she thought about how nice it was to be living across the street from the jail. Even if it started raining before Jack left the office this evening, he could make it home in twenty seconds. Ten if he sprinted.

She closed up the newly purchased curtains and headed to bed, anticipating him being home soon. It had been a long day with cleaning the dust and grime from every surface in the building, buying food staples, and then unpacking the rest of their belongings.

* * *

Elizabeth was lying in bed reading a book when she heard the jingling of the bell above the front door. Comet, who was lying next to her, perked up her head and concentrated her green eyes towards the front room.

"Jack, is that you?" Elizabeth called out. "I'm in bed already. How was the office?"

Not hearing a response, Elizabeth frowned and set the book down next to her. She strained her ears. Listening.

"Jack?"

Hearing nothing, she climbed out of bed. She didn't bother putting on her robe or slippers as she walked the few steps to the open doorway of the bedroom.

"Jack?"

Elizabeth paused in the doorway waiting for an answer but the night air was still.

The feeling of something brushing against her leg caused her to jump and catch her breath.

 _Darn cat!,_ she thought as she let out her breath and watched Comet walk away.

The sound of a creaking floorboard caused Elizabeth to freeze again.

"Hello? Is somebody out there?"

She could feel her heart pounding as she tried to think of what to do. Slowly, she tiptoed to the storage room just a few feet away and looked inside.

Seeing nothing amiss, Elizabeth next pushed gently on the door to the bathroom. It creaked on its hinges but the small room was empty.

 _Weapon, I have to get a weapon!_ She tiptoed back into the bedroom and grabbed the lamp from the small table by the bed.

There was no lock on the bedroom door. After all their past experiences, Jack had mentioned putting one on, but he hadn't gotten around to it yet.

Elizabeth jumped again when she heard the sound of thunder in the distance.

She thought about escaping outside by climbing out the bedroom window. _Don't be stupid. I'm in a nightdress and it's about to start raining. Besides, this is my home . . .even if it is an old store!_

* * *

"Elizabeth, what are you doing?" Jack asked when he walked in the front door and saw her tiptoeing into the front room, carrying a lamp.

"Oh my goodness, you scared me half to death!" Elizabeth lowered the lamp, and took a deep breath. "Where did you go?"

"I've been at the jail. You know that. What happened?"

"Were you just in here and then left?"

"Elizabeth, I've been gone for over an hour. What's going on?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "Nothing. I thought I heard something. Will you just look around and make sure no one's here."

"What'd you hear?", he asked anxiously.

"The bell over the front door jingled."

Jack looked at her strangely. "Elizabeth, the front door was locked. I just unlocked it when I came in. You couldn't have heard it jingling."

Elizabeth shivered despite the heat and humidity.

"It must have been Rip", Jack explained as he looked at the dog. "He's wearing those metal tags your students in Hope Valley made so he everyone here would know his name and who he belongs to if he got lost."

"I . . . I heard the floor creaking", Elizabeth added hesitantly as she looked at Rip and his collar.

"It was probably Rip."

Despite his confidence that Elizabeth had been spooked by the dog, Jack did a quick, but thorough search, of the mercantile .

"There's nothing here. Not even a mouse. It's just the storm and being in a new place that spooked you", he said assuredly to Elizabeth.

She stood in the center of the front room. Her arms wrapped around her. She looked around. Nothing was out of place, no one was there.

"Come on. Let's go to bed", Jack said as he put his arm around her and led her to the bedroom.

* * *

As she lay in bed in Jack's sleeping arms, Elizabeth couldn't stop thinking of the scent.

Before Jack had come back from the office, when she thought that she had sensed someone in the store, she had noticed it.

It hadn't been just the jingling of the bell or the creaking of the floorboards that had made her feel on edge.

Elizabeth had noticed the unmistakable scent of lavender permeating the front room. She hadn't noticed it earlier in the day. But it had been there just now.

And earlier. . . in her hotel room.

She had thought she noticed the faint scent once when she was writing in her baby journal.

It was a scent she never wore.

* * *

Wrapping her thin robe around her, Elizabeth walked into the front room, where Jack was sitting on their couch putting on his boots.

"Morning", he said with a smile as he looked up at her.

"I can't believe I slept so long. I didn't even hear you get up. Did you eat already?"

"I had some oatmeal."

"Where is it?", she asked with a mischievous grin as she looked around the room.

"The oatmeal? In the kitchen. I left you some."

"No, not the oatmeal", she said with a chuckle. "My present."

"What present?" he asked, giving her a perplexing look.

"Didn't you buy me something and forget to give it to me?"

"Nooo. . . Was I supposed to buy you something?" Jack's voice showed his confusion as to what he could have possibly forgotten.

"But I smelled it."

"Smelled what?" Jack asked, looking even more confused as he stood up and reached for his hat.

"Lavender."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I smelled lavender last night. I assumed you bought me something . . . maybe some perfume or something. You forgot to give it to me. You left it somewhere in the front room, didn't you?"

"Nope. Sorry. I didn't. But you don't even like the smell of lavender that much."

"I know. But I smelled it."

"I didn't smell it." Jack looked at her strangely before giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Is this some pregnant woman thing?"

"No, it's not some pregnant woman thing!" Elizabeth said in exasperation. "I smelled it . . . At least I thought I did", she added unsurely.

"Was I supposed to buy you lavender or a present?"

"Never mind." Elizabeth gave a frustrated shake of her head and started to walk into the kitchen.

"So do you want me to buy you lavender or not?", Jack called out after Elizabeth.

Deep in her thoughts, she ignored him.

 **Up next: Chapter 3 - Friends**


	3. Chapter 3 - Friends

**Chapter Three – Friends**

It was the eggs that made Elizabeth her first friend in Bear Creek a few days later.

Or rather, it was the chicken that laid the eggs that made Elizabeth her first friend.

Elizabeth had spent all day baking cookies. With Jack gone traveling the area to check on residents and planning to be gone for a few days, and no pupils, or even a schoolhouse to keep her occupied, and Jack forbidding her from interacting with anyone, Elizabeth had plenty of time to perfect the dozens of circles of a mixture of sugar, flour, vanilla, butter, and milk which now lined the kitchen counter. Thankfully, her friendship with Abigail had ensured that Elizabeth had learned how to make a decent batch of sugar cookies.

She was planning on depositing a small sack of cookies, along with a note introducing herself, on the front porch of the homes of each of her students.

Her students.

Elizabeth had decided that even if she didn't have a school, she still had students and she needed to introduce herself. It just couldn't be face-to-face until the threat of diphtheria had passed.

"Darn it!", she exclaimed as she accidentally knocked the bowl containing her last four eggs off the counter and onto the floor where they landed with splat.

 _How did that happen?_ , she thought in frustration. _I didn't think my elbow was even that close to the bowl._

Using a dishcloth to wipe up the slimy yellow and translucent mess off the floor, she thought about reducing the number of cookies she had planned to deliver to each home.

 _This is silly. I can go outdoors and to the store. I'm just going to buy a few eggs. I won't touch anyone, or even come that close to anyone. I'll stay four feet away like Jack does when he meets people,_ she thought with determination and a positive attitude after taking a batch of cookies out of the oven and walking out the door.

* * *

Striding down main street, Elizabeth noticed the town's large mercantile which she discovered sold mostly supplies. Next door to it was another store selling groceries. She was about to enter the grocery store when Jack's words came back to her again.

 _I don't want you going anywhere near anyone. Not until we're positive that the town is clear of all infection. Elizabeth, promise me you'll stay away from people._

Elizabeth sighed, slumped her shoulders in defeat, turned around without entering the store, and headed back towards her new home.

* * *

The chicken strutted past Elizabeth as if the street was its own private dinner buffet.

Elizabeth paused to watch the bird pecking at bugs when a blond-haired woman came hurrying round the corner of the nearest building.

"Get home, you silly thing!" the women in her twenties ordered the reddish and white colored fowl as she waved her hands behind it.

"Oh, hello!" the woman, her hair falling from her hair bun, said in surprise when she saw Elizabeth.

"I'm sorry if Ernest is bothering you. She keeps escaping the yard", the woman explained in a friendly manner.

"Ernest?"

"Ernestine. She's my best layer but also likes to run away. . . . Hi. I'm Lucy. Lucy Madison. You must be the new teacher in town. I'd shake your hand but . . , well, considering the circumstances of the last month, it's not advisable."

"Not that I have diphtheria ", she added quickly.

Before Elizabeth could say anything, the woman continued speaking in a flurry of words.

"I'm as healthy as they come. My husband says I never slow down enough for the germs to catch me. But still, everyone in town has been keeping their distance from everyone else. It's only for a little bit longer. Doctor Hudson says the last case will be cured this week. Goodness, it's nice to have someone to talk to. I feel like I've been quarantined for ages. Michael – that's my husband – won't let me near anyone. 'Stay at least four feet away from everyone' - that's what Michael says. He's so paranoid about me getting sick - even though I never do. Well, it's not just me he's worried about, but our little one on the way'", Lucy said as she patted her stomach and smiled.

"I'm Eliz—"

"Oh, I know. You're Elizabeth Thornton. You're married to the town's new Mountie, Sergeant Thornton. We've been expecting you. I wanted to have a nice luncheon to welcome you. I had the menu all planned in mind and everything. I make the best chicken salad sandwiches. Then with the diphtheria and everything, a luncheon just didn't seem a good idea. What with no one wanting to be around anyone and all. I'm sorry , I've been rattling on. I haven't given you a chance to talk. We're just so happy to have you and your husband here. If you ever need eggs, or a nice chicken salad recipe, you just talk to me. My husband, Michael, says I know more about fowl than anyone in town. Course, I know other things too. I expect you know a lot about everything. With you being a teacher and everything. . . ."

And that was how Elizabeth met her first friend.

* * *

Elizabeth thought Lucy was wonderful. It was as if the perky woman was a mixture of both Elizabeth's best friend, Abigail, and her sister, Julie. The woman had Abigail's inner strength and capabilities. She had Julie's never-ending sense of excitement and adventure.

They spent the afternoon together. First walking to Lucy's yard, corralling Ernest back into her hen house, and then sitting in the shade of the house's back porch sipping lemonade.

When Lucy's husband saw Elizabeth, he said hello and smiled at her, but then gave Lucy a stern look.

"It's fine, Michael. We women are staying four feet away from each other. Not touching anything that the other one touches. Neither one of us has so much as sneezed. We haven't even breathed the same air as the other. In fact, I may just let her keep the glass she's drinking out of", Lucy said with exaggeration as she rolled her eyes for Elizabeth's benefit when Michael wasn't looking.

Elizabeth couldn't help but giggle. Lucy was exactly what she needed after her first lonely days in Bear Creek.

When Elizabeth mentioned that she been baking cookies to deliver to her students, Lucy insisted on helping her deliver them, and after giving Elizabeth some eggs from the hen house, they agreed to meet an hour later.

* * *

As they walked with the small sacks of cookies through the town and rode in Lucy's buckboard wagon to outlying homes, Lucy assured Elizabeth that Bear Creek was a wonderful town. At each home they visited, they were careful to only go as far as the front porch. The afternoon flew by as Lucy kept up a running conversation, providing Elizabeth with details on every aspect of the occupants.

 _. . . The boy's nose is always running. His mama should tie a bandana to his shirt._

 _. . . she's a pretty little thing but she stutters a bit. Treat her real softly. She'll be your shiest student._

 _. . . looks like an idiot but he's real smart._

 _. . .only speak French. Moved here from Montreal. Can't understand a word they're saying._

 _. . . they're twins. No one can tell them apart. . . .Not even their Pa. . . ._

 _. . . she's afraid of lighting, tornados, bears, fire, snakes, the river, peanut butter, don't ask. . ._

Elizabeth realized that she had been wrong in thinking of Lucy as just a mixture of Abigail and Julie. _My goodness_ , s _he also has Rosemary's sense of gossip!_ _She's all three women rolled into one!_

* * *

Late that evening, Elizabeth was organizing her many books into a small wooden bookcase in the front room, going back and forth between the last heavy crate containing the books and the shelves.

After putting three novels onto the top shelf, she was returning to the crate when she noticed Comet lying on her side, her feline body stretched out in the middle of the floor. Her black tail flipped back and forth lazily as if she were happy about something.

What caught Elizabeth's attention was the sound Comet was making. A deep rumbling purr which revealed her pleasure.

 _You're a very content little kitty,_ Elizabeth thought with a smile.

Suddenly Elizabeth stopped smiling as she thought about the situation.

An eerie tingling went down her body.

She stared at Comet. Looking at the cat's outstretched body. The tail flipping back and forth.

 _Comet only purrs and acts like that when someone's petting her,_ Elizabeth realized.

"Shoo. Shoo, Comet. Outside!" an unnerved Elizabeth ordered as she forced Comet from her relaxed position and out the door she opened for the animal.

Elizabeth locked the door behind her, and then turned on every light in the home.

* * *

Three days later, the afternoon air was hot.

Jack was filthy and tired.

After spending days traveling through the countryside, he was looking forward to taking a nice bath and relaxing.

Being the sole Mountie in town had its benefits, including deciding that his work-day was done and it was time to get home to his pregnant wife, a soft mattress, and hopefully a nice dinner.

It was just a short walk from the livery to their mercantile-home, but he was surprised by the number of townspeople who were out in public. Several nodded and smiled as he walked by. The town was coming alive again.

He thought about stopping to converse briefly with people he passed, but he was exhausted from his days on horseback and just wanted to get home and relax in quiet. So he merely waved back and continued.

Jack felt guilty that Elizabeth had been so lonely since they arrived at Bear Creek, and he was looking forward to seeing her exuberant smile when he told her that there hadn't been any new case of diphtheria in any of the outlying areas and the town was clear. She could now get out and meet people.

He knew that he told her to stay inside, but with the danger in town passed, he also knew that she probably had already gone out and met one or two people.

He climbed up the two wooden steps to their home and quietly opened the door, thinking that perhaps Elizabeth may be taking a nap. Without first looking around, he took off his hat and jacket and placed them on one of the metal hooks which lined the wall beside the door.

As he turned back towards the center of the room and took a step forward, Jack stopped with a jolt, his eyes drawn to the floor.

36 eyes stared back at him.

* * *

"Jack! You're back early", Elizabeth called out pleasantly as she looked up from the book she was holding. She was standing across the room wearing a pretty skirt and freshly ironed pale pink blouse.

Jack looked down and then began to cross the room to her, being careful not to step on the more than a dozen pairs of hands and feet. There were feet clad in sandals, some in boots, a pair in loafers, and even a few bare feet.

"May I have a word with you, Mrs. Thornton?" he asked as he meandered through the tiny bodies sitting cross legged or relaxing with their feet on the floor and tiny arms wrapped around their upright knees.

"Class, this is Sergeant Thornton."

"Hello, Sergeant Thornton", a chorus of voices rang out.

* * *

"Elizabeth, care to explain what is going on?"

"We're reading about Lewis and Clark. Just now, we were discussing when they met Sacagawea"

Jack looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"You know that's not what I'm talking about."

"Doc Hudson cleared everyone. We needed a school. I need students. This place was certainly big enough. It was perfect", Elizabeth said as she walked through the room, stooping down to pick up the books that the children had left on the floor when they scurried from the building after Elizabeth excused them and they had seen the town's new Mountie frowning at the sight of them.

Jack bent down and picked up the last of the books. Looking around for a table, he finally put them on Elizabeth's desk, which was the only piece of furniture left in the center of the room besides her desk chair.

"So, you decided to turn our home into a school with 20 students after I specifically asked you to stay away from everyone."

"Actually, it's only 18 students. But I may have one or two more. Provided you haven't scared them all away."

"Where did they all come from? Do they come to you like you're some kind of Pied Piper?" he asked wryly.

"I knocked on a few doors and rode out to a homestead and asked them to spread the word", she answered pleasantly. _There's no need to tell him I had gone around with Lucy the day before with sacks of cookies . . at least not yet._

Jack's eyes showed his displeasure at her confession.

"I don't want you riding alone. Especially not in your condition."

"It's a pregnancy, not a 'condition'. And it doesn't keep me from riding. Not yet."

"And all our belongings? The couch? The chairs? The side table? Your chest?"

"I moved them. Jack, we didn't need all this space. And the furniture fits in the other rooms and up against the walls." _He doesn't need to see how squished it is back there just yet!_

Jack scowled. "I don't want you moving heavy things."

"I only moved the light things. What was too heavy, I had some of the boys move."

Jack scowled again shook his head in a sign of frustration. "I told you not to talk to anyone and you did. I asked you not to go riding and you did. And I told you not to do anything strenuous and you did."

"Jack –", she began, but her voice trailed off when she realized he was right. And he wasn't pleased.

"Did you even start dinner yet?" he asked with a sigh as he pulled out the desk chair, sat down his tired body, and took off his dusty boots.

 _Darn, I knew I was forgetting something,_ Elizabeth thought with frown _. Why did he have to come home so early today of all days?_

Elizabeth, taking in Jack's slumped shoulders and worn look, gave him a warm smile. "No, not yet. I'm sorry. I just got so excited about teaching. It felt wonderful. I'll get dinner started now. It will be ready when you're finished with your bath. "

Jack watched her quickly put down the school books and move to the kitchen area, where she grabbed an apron and started to put it around her waist. His eyes watched as her hands wrapped the thin fabric straps around her back and then tied them in a bow.

He took in her slightly swollen belly that was noticeable to only the two of them.

Elizabeth pushed some wayward curls behind her ears, unbuttoned the cuffs of her blouse, and began rolling up the sleeves.

Jack couldn't deny that teaching gave his wife a certain spark.

As she grabbed some items from the icebox, Elizabeth noticed that Jack was still sitting in the chair with his eyes gazing at her.

"Go ahead and get in your bath", she encouraged him. "I'll have dinner ready when you're done".

"I highly doubt that", he said as he lowered his suspenders and then began unbuttoning his shirt.

"Why?" she asked in surprise.

"I plan on taking a bath _with_ the town's new school teacher", Jack said with a smile as he removed his shirt.

"I can't let the students be the only ones to appreciate having her around."

* * *

Hours later, as Elizabeth lay next to a sleeping Jack in their double bed, she felt unsettled as she thought about how she had rearranged the front room to turn it into a classroom. She wasn't unsettled that she had done it. She was happy about that.

She was unsettled about _how_ it had happened.

Two days earlier, after Jack was already gone on his trip, she had been thinking about moving the couch and a sideboard despite his admonishment that she not do anything strenuous. She was about to push the couch across the room when the knock on the door stopped her. Three boys had arrived, and after introducing themselves, they had offered to move the furniture.

The boys easily moved the heavy objects while Elizabeth supervised. After giving them some cookies and thanking them for their help, Elizabeth had walked them out and mentioned that their timing had been perfect.

"You saved me from doing all the hard work", she had told them with a smile.

"We saw you through the front window, ma'am. Seemed like you could use the help", Tommy explained as the boys munched on the cookies and waved goodbye.

Elizabeth's smile faded as she closed the door behind them. She stared at the front window through which the boys had seen her and realized that the drapes were pushed to the sides and the sun was now streaming in.

 _I know I closed the drapes earlier,_ she had thought with a sense of apprehension.

Now thinking about the incident, Elizabeth shuddered and scooched closer to Jack, pressing her body against his.

"Go to sleep", Jack murmured as he turned onto his side and reached his arm around her, holding her safely to him.

Elizabeth closed her eyes. But she couldn't fall asleep. She kept thinking about the drapes. _I know I closed them to keep out the hot sun_. _How did they get open? . . . And why was Comet purring the other day?_

And she thought about the scent. She had smelled it again that day. Just before the boys had knocked on the door.

The scent of lavender floating through the room.

 _ **Up Next: Chapter 4**_


	4. Chapter 4 - Bunny

**Chapter Four –Bunny**

It was still early afternoon when Jack looked out the jailhouse window and saw the students hurrying out of the mercantile classroom, chasing each other and laughing. When he looked at his watch, he was surprised to see that it was too late for lunch recess and too early for the end of the school day.

Setting down his pencil, Jack retrieved his hat and walked the short distance home.

"What's with all the students running out of here?" he greeted Elizabeth.

"We were discussing portmanteaus and things got a little out of hand. I ended up just dismissing them early", Elizabeth said in exasperation as she gathered up school books.

"I'd sympathize with you. Or maybe with your students. Except I have no idea what a portmanteau is", Jack replied with a grin as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"It's a linguistic blend of words."

"I still don't know what it is. But I'm already sympathizing with your students", he said with a snicker.

"It's putting two words together but not as if they would follow each other in a sentence. It's taking two words to make a new word which describes something", Elizabeth said.

Elizabeth continued explaining when Jack gave her a blank look.

"Like 'spork'. It's a utensil that's a spoon and a fork. It's a spork! Or like 'brunch'. It's a meal that's both breakfast and lunch. Or like smog. That's what they have in London - a mixture of smoke and fog."

"So how does an English lesson get out of hand?" Jack asked as he followed Elizabeth to the kitchen.

"The children made up portmanteaus and they each stood up to read theirs. Things were getting a little silly. And then Jacob said, 'Mrs. Thornton is a preacher' – a pregnant teacher. . . which isn't exactly a portmanteau but all the kids thought it was very funny. The idea of you married to a lady preacher. And I finally had the class under control when, well . . . then . . . "

"What?"

"Poor Lisa Anne. She's so shy and we've been working on that. This was the first time that she's said a whole sentence without stuttering. She was trying so hard", Elizabeth said as she poured them each a glass of lemonade and handed one to Jack.

"What did she say?"

"She was trying to make a portmanteau about where we live. The students find it very interesting that we live in the old mercantile. Our home is a combination of a house and a store."

"So?"

"She had no idea what she was saying! She's not even six."

"What did she say?"

"She said 'I saw Sergeant Thornton standing by his hore.'"

Jack sputtered and lemonade spewed out of his mouth.

"I had to excuse them for the rest of the day. There was no getting them under control after that. Even the ones that usually only speak French were in peals of laughter", Elizabeth admitted with a smile.

* * *

Elizabeth had fallen asleep after Jack went back to work. It happened to her more often than not after school let out for the day, even though today it was earlier than usual. The summer heat, the pregnancy, the long days teaching or preparing the home and unpacking newly arriving crates of supplies, had all taken their toll.

She had put the chicken in the oven, intending to grade a few papers while it cooked, but her eyelids had grown heavy and the words on the pages had danced around until she finally succumbed to sleep.

The bubbling hot juices from the chicken ran over the shallow pain and landed on the hot inside surface of the oven, causing a sizzling sound. If she had been awake, Elizabeth would have scowled just thinking about having to clean the inside of the oven. But she slept through the juices dripping, searing onto the hot iron surface.

Elizabeth's 15 minute napped turned into 20 minutes. Then into 40 minutes. And then into more than an hour. The chicken juices evaporated leaving a dry tough piece of inedible fowl. There were no longer white and dark pieces of the bird. They were all just black.

The wisps of smoke began seeping out of the edges of the oven door.

Initially attracted to the smell of the cooking chicken, Comet's delicate cat nose now found the burning smell offensive. She jumped up on the open window sill and then, with a backward glance at the sleeping Elizabeth, she leaped onto the porch outside and sauntered down the street.

* * *

"Wake up".

The voice was a soft whisper.

Elizabeth heard it in her dream. The sweet sound of a woman's voice telling her to wake up. She stirred slightly but chose to remain in her dream of wandering in a flowershop.

"You have to wake up", the voice repeated more urgently this time.

Elizabeth grumbled and turned sleepily onto her other side, knocking one of the couch's throw pillows to the floor where it landed on her students' papers.

She felt a nudge to her shoulder and swatted away the bothersome presence which was trying to interrupt her sleep.

"I said you have to wake up!"

The harshness of the words caused Elizabeth to open her eyes. She looked around, expecting to see someone and was surprised that no one was there. Momentarily startled, she realized that she must have been dreaming.

She sat up and brushed the hair from her face.

 _What is that smell?_

 _Smoke!_

Racing to the oven, Elizabeth grabbed a dishtowel and opened the iron door, releasing clouds of smoke that stung her eyes.

Coughing and turning her head away from the heat and acrid billowing haze, she took hold of the pan containing the dead fowl and carried it to the front door.

She set it down to open the door, and then used her foot to kick the smoking pan outside, waving the dishtowel to clear the air.

* * *

"Elizabeth!"

Jack had finished work for the day and was crossing the street when he saw her. He took one look at his coughing wife, her hair askew, standing in the doorway waving a towel in cloud of smoke, and he quickened his pace.

"What happened?!" he asked as he glanced at the pan of burnt chicken and tried to decipher what it had once been.

"Dinner" she responded simply as he put his arm around her and walked her back into the house.

Jack left the door open, and took the towel from her hand. "Sit down", he instructed as he went the bedroom and opened the window.

"Why weren't you watching the oven?!" he asked as he tried to clear the air.

Jack looked at her worriedly as Elizabeth explained that she must have fallen asleep on the couch while grading papers.

"Thank goodness you woke up in time."

"I was having a dream and I heard someone tell me to wake up. And then someone nudged me."

"Someone nudged you?"

"It was just a dream. But it felt so real. Like someone was really touching my shoulder."

"It could have been Rip. Or maybe Comet. You know how she always likes to crawl on me when I'm sleeping", Jack said as he poured her glass of water.

"Yeah. I suppose. But that's you. She doesn't do that as much with me."

"I suppose it could have been her", Elizabeth added hesitantly as she took the glass from Jack.

Elizabeth lightly touched her shoulder with her other hand, which she left there for a moment as she remembered the feeling of the nudge.

"I guess you're right. Well, then I owe Comet a big thank you for waking me up. She saved my life."

Ten minutes later, as she poured dry cereal flakes into bowls for dinner and Jack took the milk from the ice box, neither one of them bothered to think that they hadn't seen Comet in the house.

* * *

Elizabeth was reminded of the burned chicken when she unpinned her hair as she got ready for bed. As her long tresses fell down past her shoulders, she noticed the smell. She brought a handful of hair to her nose and sniffed, crinkling her nose in repulsion. _I can't sleep with this._

"Jack, I'm going to shampoo my hair!" she called out to him in the front room. "I'll just do it in the kitchen sink. I'm too tired to take a bath."

Elizabeth gathered a towel and her shampoo and was heading into the kitchen when Jack approached her with a smile. "How about I help?"

The warm water felt wonderful and relaxing. Elizabeth sat on a chair with her back to the sink, her head tilted back so that her long hair hung down into the porcelain basin. It reminded her of when she used to get her hair washed at the fancy hair salon in Hamilton except instead of the young girl, Marguerite, lathering up her curls, Elizabeth had the strong masculine hands of Jack.

Elizabeth kept her eyes closed as she enjoyed the feel of his fingers massaging her scalp. She found herself almost nodding off to sleep as Jack hummed a tune and rinsed the bubbles from her hair.

Elizabeth was disappointed when Jack turned off the water and placed a towel on her hair. It had been so calming that she didn't want the experience to end.

Even when Elizabeth felt Jack move from her side to the front of her, she kept her eyes closed, savoring the relaxed moment.

Jack straddled the chair in which Elizabeth was sitting. Before she was quite knew what he was doing, he had moved her nightdress over her thighs, lifted her hips, and positioned himself so that he was now sitting on the seat of the chair which she occupied. He moved her again and inched forward so that she sat on his lap, her leg straddling him as they faced each other.

As Jack moved his mouth along her upper body, Elizabeth gasped and then smiled. _This is certainly not like the hair salon_ , she thought before everything was pushed out of her mind except the taste of Jack's mouth on hers.

He took his time with the kiss, making it long and warm at first.

Then, exciting her to the point where she was hurriedly undressing him.

* * *

Later, when Elizabeth was gathering their discarded clothes from the kitchen floor, she felt it again. The strange presence.

Something hovering around her.

Watching her.

Waiting for something to happen to her.

Waiting for something to happen to her and Jack's unborn baby.

Elizabeth shuddered before hurriedly throwing the clothes in the laundry hamper and joining Jack in bed.

* * *

By the next afternoon, Elizabeth had forgotten about the burnt chicken, the shampooing of her hair, and Jack's attention. She was more concerned about how to get home.

 _Where am I? How did I get so turned around?_

It had started off as a simple walk to enjoy the weather and pick some berries. Elizabeth had been grateful to be in the woods where it was at least 10 degrees cooler than in town.

Somehow Elizabeth had paid more attention to finding the plumpest berries than to where she was wandering. By the time her basket was full of fruit and she looked around, Elizabeth realized she had no idea where she was.

She pushed aside the nervousness that was creeping up on her. _I'm just fine. I just have to start moving in the right direction. I can't be far off the path_.

 _But what's the right direction?!_

Elizabeth stood up straight with her shoulders pushed back and then wiped the sweat from her brow. With a firm grasp on her basket, she chose what she thought was the correct direction of town and began walking

After just a few minutes, she was starting to feel nervous.

 _What if this isn't the right direction? I don't recognize anything. Every tree and bush looks the same._

Elizabeth stopped and looked around, straining on her tiptoes to see over the shrubs and through the trees for some detail of town. But she couldn't see or hear anything of the civilization she had left 40 minutes earlier.

She naively looked to the sky but it was too hot outside for chimneys to be spewing clouds of grey smoke.

There was no clue as to the location of the town.

Even the town children had grown hot and tired after a short time in the heat and had ceased their games of running and shouting in play, returning indoors for lemonade and leaving the pastures surrounding the town as quiet sleepy fields of grass.

The rustle of the leaves caused Elizabeth to jump.

She looked quickly to her right and breathed a sigh of relief when she realized it was only a squirrel that had made the noise.

Elizabeth began walking again but quickened her pace.

* * *

She had walked another 10 minutes in one direction before she finally admitted it couldn't be the way to town. _I should have been there by now_.

Her eyes began to feel the sting of tears as she realized she had made a mistake.

She was lost.

Hopelessly lost.

A movement to her left caused her to drop her drop her basket, spilling the berries onto the ground. She chided herself for being so timid as she crouched down and picking up the berries, putting them back into the simple basket.

 _It was probably just another squirrel. Or maybe a fox making the noise. That's all. Stop being a ninny,_ she told herself. _I'm probably really close to town. I just can't see it._

When she stood up, she glanced to her left and was startled to see a woman standing approximately 60 feet away. The woman, whose long black hair hung down past her shoulders, smiled and motioned with hand for Elizabeth to follow her.

"Hello! I'm coming. Wait for me" Elizabeth called out as she made her way towards the woman. "I'm so glad to run into you. I'm afraid I was a little lost!"

Elizabeth hurried to catch up the woman, who kept moving, nimbly crossing over fallen trees and past bushes, even though she herself appeared to be pregnant. Every time Elizabeth thought she had lost track of the woman, she caught another glimpse of her up ahead.

"I'm coming!" Elizabeth yelled again as she yanked her skirt loose from a thorny branch and hurried in the woman's direction.

When she came to an open field, Elizabeth looked around but the woman had disappeared from view. Elizabeth paused to catch her breath and smiled when she saw the town across the field, less than a two minute walk.

* * *

"This pie is delicious, Elizabeth."

"Thanks. Abigail, the friend I told you about, taught me how to bake. It took her a while, but I eventually learned how to make a few things", Elizabeth responded with a smile as she refilled Lucy's water glass.

"I should have gone berry picking with you. Michael loves a good pie."

Elizabeth served them each another slice of pie as she explained to Lucy about how she had become lost in the woods.

"Oh, you mean Bunny", Lucy said as Elizabeth finished telling her what happened and describing the woman.

"Bunny? Who's she?"

"She's a native. An Indian. Cree. She likes to help the woman around here. Especially pregnant women. She has a soft spot for us. She knows a lot about childbirth and pregnancy."

"I'd like to meet her sometime"

Lucy laughed. "That's a little hard to arrange. You only see Bunny when she wants you to see her."

Before Elizabeth could ask any more questions, the small clock on the sideboard chimed.

"Oh my goodness. Look at the time!" Lucy exclaimed. "I've got to get home and get dinner started. Thanks for the pie!"

It wasn't until later that evening that Elizabeth noticed that the clock was wrong. It was an hour too fast. _Lucy could have stayed longer. Oh well_ , Elizabeth thought as she turned the clock hands, resetting it to the correct time.

* * *

"Jack, have you ever met a Cree woman around here?" Elizabeth asked the next day over breakfast.

"Can't say I have", he responded as he took a sip of coffee and set the cup down on the table. "Why? Who is she?"

"Remember when I told you I was picking berries and I got lost in the woods and followed that woman?"

"Yes. You know, you worry me entirely too much. Do you think you can just stay close to home while we live here?" he asked.

Elizabeth ignored his question as she took a forkful of scrambled eggs.

"I think her name is Bunny. Lucy told me that she's a Cree woman living in the area. I'd like to meet her but I've never seen her in town."

"If I see her, I'll thank her for helping you out. By the way, these are delicious eggs."

"They're from Ernestine."

"Well we better hurry up and eat because your students will be here any minute", Jack said as he took a sip of juice. "That reminds me, the mayor wants to talk to you about writing a proposal to the province to get money for a new school."

* * *

Two weeks later, Jack didn't know how to tell Elizabeth what he had found out about Bunny.

Or whether to tell her anything at all.

Jack had initially forgotten to ask anyone about the Cree woman, but when one of the local men had given him given him some jars of preserves which his wife had made as a welcome gift for the Thorntons, Jack was reminded of Elizabeth getting lost in the woods when berry picking.

The local man's odd look and curt response that he didn't know anyone named Bunny caused Jack's barely casual interest in the woman to increase.

It was another married man who finally told Jack what his own wife had told him about Bunny.

Now, Jack just didn't know what to do with the information.

The last thing he wanted was for Elizabeth to be upset during her pregnancy, and he wasn't sure how she'd react to the news.

He wished he had never asked around about the pregnant Indian woman. But he had. And now he knew what had happened to her. Jack finally decided that unless Elizabeth asked him, he wasn't going to bring up the subject.

If he could keep the information to himself until after their own baby was born, it would be much better for Elizabeth, he reasoned. He just hoped that she didn't ask any of the other women in town.

* * *

Two days later as they were getting ready for dinner, Elizabeth asked.

"Jack, did you ever find out where Bunny lives? I'd like to stop by and introduce myself. I told you that I think she's pregnant too. Although, she looked a lot farther along than me. She's probably due any day now. I want to offer to help if she needs anything. Maybe make her and her husband a meal when the baby's born."

"Elizabeth –" Jack's voice trailed off and he took a deep breath.

"What?"

"Are you sure you saw this woman? In the woods?"

Elizabeth gave Jack a puzzled look as she put the silverware on the table for dinner. "Of course, I saw her. I saw her again last week. When I was down by the creek with my students. She was picking some lavender. I called out to her but she must not have heard me over the sound of the water."

"I don't want you to think about Bunny. Let's just concentrate on you and our baby and us. How are your students doing? Did they enjoy your idea for putting on a play?"

"Jack, she's pregnant. Like me. She can probably use some help. What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing. I just don't want you concerning yourself with things that don't affect us. Here, let me get the plates for you", Jack said as he opened the cupboard and took out two plates.

"What is going on? What did you find out about Bunny?"

Jack set the plates on the table, and kept his back to Elizabeth for a moment before finally turning to her and speaking.

"She died in childbirth."

"Oh my god, no!" Elizabeth gasped as she brought her hand to her mouth in surprise, and slumped into a chair.

"The baby too?"

"What?" Jack's voice sounded distracted. "Oh, yeah, the baby died too."

"I never got to thank her for helping me in the woods" Elizabeth cried as her eyes welled up with tears.

"What if something like that happens to me? To the baby?", she asked worriedly as she put her hands on her stomach and tears began running down her cheeks.

Jack bent down and reached into Elizabeth's skirt pocket, taking out her handkerchief for her.

"Shhh, sweetie. Nothing's going to happen to you. You're perfectly healthy and you and the baby will be just fine." Jack assured her as he handed her the handkerchief to wipe her tears.

"Bunny looked perfectly healthy. These things happen" , Elizabeth said between quiet sobs.

"Let's just put Bunny out of our minds. Okay?"

"No, it's not okay. She died in childbirth", Elizabeth said between tears. "I could too."

"You're not going to die in childbirth. Stop thinking that way."

"When did it happen?"

"That's what bothers me", Jack responded. He stood up and furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Why? When did she die?" Elizabeth looked up at him.

When Jack didn't answer, she asked again.

"When did she die? Jack, answer me", she ordered.

Jack paused and gave her a strange look before answering.

"40 years ago."

 **Up next - Chapter 5 - Stories**


	5. Chapter 5 - Stories, Snakes, and a Spat

**Chapter five –Stories, Snake, and a Spat**

"I told you about Bunny. Her Cree name translates into Small Rabbit in the Grass. But we all just call her Bunny. She fell in love and married a trapper. He joined her tribe. She died in childbirth," Lucy said simply as she hung her sheets on the backyard clothing line the next afternoon.

"You never mentioned earlier that she died in childbirth, is a ghost, and lived 40 years ago!" Elizabeth said accusatorily.

"Didn't I?" Lucy shrugged. "I guess I forgot. But I told you that she helps pregnant women. She kept me from getting diphtheria. Hand me a clothespin."

"How?" Elizabeth questioned as she handed the wooden pin to Lucy.

"I told you. I was on my way to the Keplers when I saw Bunny. I followed her and got distracted and never made it to the Keplers. They all ended up with diphtheria. If I had visited with them, I would have gotten it."

Elizabeth vaguely remembered Lucy talking about that the day they had first met, but Lucy had been talking so much and so fast that Elizabeth had thought that the woman had said that she had followed an actual bunny.

"Did you actually see her?"

"Well, I'm not positive. I suppose that it could have been Mrs. Granson. She has long dark hair. Or maybe Madge Jamison. She also has long dark hair. And I only saw her from the back. But I assumed it was Bunny", Lucy answered with a shrug.

"Why in the world would you assume it was ghost named Bunny?"

"I don't know. I just did. Pass me another clothespin please."

"Have you _ever_ seen her?" Elizabeth asked as she reached into the basket of clothespins and handed one to Lucy.

"Not "seen" "seen" her, but I've felt her."

"You can't possibly believe in ghosts."

"Haven't you noticed strange things happening? Like someone watching out for you. Protecting you." Lucy asked as she finished hanging up the last piece of laundry and turned to look at Elizabeth. "And besides, there are no other pregnant women in town but you and me. So if it wasn't Bunny, who exactly did you see?"

* * *

 _This is absurd! There is no such thing as spirits,_ Elizabeth thought at the end of the school the next day. She had tried concentrating on lessons, but she had found herself getting side-tracked.

"Margaret", Elizabeth called after one of the mothers as the children ran outside.

"Were you living here in Bear Creek when you were pregnant with Toby and Silas?"

"I was. We've been here 'bout 12 years now. Since we moved from South Carolina. I guess I still have my southern accent ", she said with a laugh.

"I was just wondering if anything odd every happened to you when you were pregnant."

"Honey, everything about being pregnant is odd. We've got a person growing inside of us. If that ain't odd, I don't know what is."

Elizabeth wondered how to broach the subject without sounding crazy. She remained quiet as the women walked along the street, the children running ahead of them.

"You've seen Bunny", Margaret finally said. It was a statement; not a question.

Elizabeth nodded.

"I was wondering if you would. Not all women do. I didn't see her when I was pregnant with Toby. Maybe she was helping me out and I just didn't realize it. But I know she was there when I was pregnant with Silas."

"How do you know?"

"I was eight months pregnant with Silas. Toby was about 3. I was so tired from being pregnant and running after Toby and doing chores. I had been running all over hell's half acre. I had put Toby down for a nap and I just wanted to sleep for 15 minutes. That's all. 15 minutes. It turns out I slept more than that. I was still sleeping on my bed when something woke me up. I looked around and nothing was there. That's when I went looking for Toby.

. . . . While I had slept, Toby had woken up and been bored. He saw me sleeping, and decided he was going for a swim. He just walked right out of the house and down to the crick. I found him dangling his feet in the water.

. . . If Bunny hadn't woken me up, I reckon he could have fallen in and drowned.

. . . She saved my boy's life. And I know if something had happened to Toby, with me being eight months pregnant, I would have probably gone into early labor."

"But you don't actually believe that, do you? You didn't see her."

"No, I didn't see her. But it was her. Looking out for me. Ask around. Decide for yourself. But I'll tell you this. Childbirth's not an easy thing. And yet, not one woman in Bear Creek has died in childbirth in the last 40 years. Someone's looking out for us. And it ain't just the doctor."

* * *

Throughout the next few days, Elizabeth asked around. Casually questioning the women when they came to pick up their children. Or when she saw them at the grocery store.

Elizabeth firmly expected the women to laugh and say it wasn't really a ghost protecting them, merely a humorous town folktale. But to her surprise, almost every woman chose to believe in Bunny. More than that, they were willing to tell Elizabeth their stories.

"I was pregnant. Picking mushrooms. I had a whole skirt full of them and was walking back home when I tripped and they all spilled out. I didn't fall but I dropped my hold on my skirt. Old man Mac was walking by and stopped to help me pick them up. He noticed that I had picked the wrong kind. I had planned on making a dinner with all those beautiful deadly mushrooms. . . . If something hadn't made me trip, I would have likely killed me and my husband. I know it was Bunny that made me stumble and drop them."

. . . .

I wasn't due for two weeks and my husband was going out of town for just one night, but every time he tried to leave, something stopped him. A wheel broke on the wagon. He couldn't find his wallet. A calf escaped from the barn. Finally, it was too late for him to leave that day so he decided to wait 'til morning instead. I went into labor and had the baby that night. I would have been all by myself at the homestead if he had gone."

. . . .

"I was going walking and was about to sit down on a log when I saw a mouse run by. Startled me so much I jumped up before I touched the log. When I turned around to sit down again, I noticed for the first time that the log had a huge bee hive in it. If I had sat down, I would most certainly been stuck by the whole hive. I know Bunny scared that mouse into running by me."

* * *

Elizabeth listened to story after story from the women of Bear Creek who insisted that the native Cree woman had saved them.

Not all the women in town had experienced something unusual during pregnancies, but they all agreed on one thing. In the last 40 years, not one woman had died, or had her baby die, in childbirth. Bunny and her baby had been the last sad ending to a pregnancy in Bear Creek.

Before long, Elizabeth, who had always prided herself on being educated and rational, realized that it felt really good to know that something was looking out for her.

The more she thought about the strange things that had been happening to her since she arrived in Bear Creek, the more Elizabeth began to believe that Bunny was real.

* * *

"This is absurd, Elizabeth. Even you have to agree with that."

"Well, who did I see?"

"Probably someone from an outlying area. Or someone who was traveling past Bear Creek."

"Do you think I only have one oar in the water?" Elizabeth asked inquisitively as she dried the dinner plates.

"I don't even know what that means", Jack said looking at her with frustration and puzzlement.

"It's an expression Margaret uses it," Elizabeth explained. "Do you think I'm crazy?"

"I don't think you're crazy. I think you're pregnant and overly emotional and worried about giving birth. So you believe these crazy stories the women are telling you. There are no such things as ghosts. You saw a woman in the woods and your imagination got carried away."

"But Jack –"

"Elizabeth!" Jack said sternly as he gave her a serious look.

"No, Jack. You listen to me! You used to always tease me about being trouble. About how I got myself into situations. Think about what it's been like since I've been here. I haven't been hurt once! All these things that could have turned out badly but they didn't."

"Elizabeth! You said it yourself earlier. It's just coincidences or luck. "

"But what about the lavender? I keep smelling it. "

"So what?!" Jack practically yelled in exasperation as the couple stood in the kitchen arguing.

"I saw her in the lavender fields!"

"Oh, my goodness, Elizabeth. Think rationally. Just because you saw a woman in lavender fields and you think you smell lavender in our home, does not mean that there's a lavender-scented Native American dead woman haunting you!"

"Not haunting. Protecting", Elizabeth corrected him.

"With lavender?!"

"She smells like lavender because she used to pick it. That's why I keep smelling it here. She's been visiting me."

"Forgive me for thinking that as a Mountie I needed a gun. Maybe I should just go around with a sprig of lavender to protect and serve!"

"You don't need to act jealous just because she's taking care of me when you're not around!" Elizabeth yelled back.

"I give up. I'm going to bed. Are you coming, or are you and Bunny going to sit down for a cup of tea and cookies?" Jack asked sarcastically.

* * *

"Good morning", Elizabeth said pleasantly as she saw Jack enter the kitchen the next morning. When she had woken up an hour earlier, she had miserably realized that for the first time in their marriage, as she and Jack had laid under the sheets throughout the night, they hadn't touched each other even once.

Elizabeth was determined to put the strain of last evening's argument behind them. After a good night's sleep, she realized that she had been silly for believing in ghosts. Probably.

"You're up early", Jack said politely.

"I feel really good this morning. I know you have to do morning rounds today and I want to make you a big breakfast. How about some hash browns?" she offered happily.

"Sounds great."

"Is that the letter you got yesterday from your mother?" Jack asked, nodding to the envelope and sheets of paper on the table while he poured a cup of coffee.

"It is. I was just reading it again."

"What's new in Hamilton?"

"Mother wants me to come to Hamilton for the last month of my pregnancy and have the baby there. She says the doctors are much better and I can rest and be pampered at the mansion."

"Do you want to go?"

"Of course not. I'm staying with you!" she answered immediately. "Besides . . . "

"Besides, Bunny's here to keep you safe when you're in labor. That's what you were going to say." Jack finished her statement for her when her voice trailed off.

Elizabeth remained quiet and avoided looking at Jack, instead focusing intently on slicing an onion.

"Why don't you just take her with her to Hamilton?" Jack asked casually as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Take her with me? . . Do you think people can take ghosts with them?" Elizabeth asked in surprise as she looked up.

"Considering that she's just a figment of your over active imagination, it seems that you could take her anywhere", he said dryly as he picked up the newspaper and began reading.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes in frustration as she went to the pantry.

* * *

The shattering of the stoneware jug as it crashed to the floor caused Elizabeth to jump back in surprise.

"Elizabeth!" Jack came running into the small pantry. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"I'm fine. I was just going to get some potatoes for the hash browns when the jug I use for bacon fat fell off the shelf," Elizabeth said with a perplexed look on her face.

Jack stooped down and began picking up the larger shards of stoneware, tossing them into a nearby wastebasket with one hand, while he used his other hand to push away Rip and Comet, who had darted into the room and were trying to lick up the bacon grease.

"Can you hand me a—-", Jack started to say something but quickly changed his instructions.

"Slowly back up", Jack ordered Elizabeth.

Elizabeth looked up and saw what Jack had seen. A snake, easily four feet in length, was slithering among the potatoes.

"Slowly back up and get me my weapon" Jack ordered her as he kept his eyes on the reptile.

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked as she hurried back with Jack's pistol and handed it to him.

"A Massasauga Rattler"

"Are you sure?"

"Black spots on a tan body and -–".

Before Jack could finish, the snake made its distinctive rattle.

"Yep. I'm sure"

* * *

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Jack asked when he had finished taking care of the snake and cleaned up the broken jar. He walked into the front room and saw Elizabeth sitting quietly on the couch, which was kept pushed up against the back wall to make room for the students.

"I wasn't anywhere near the jar. I don't know how it fell off the shelf."

"You probably brushed into it by accident."

"I wasn't near it", Elizabeth repeated calmly.

"Then your heavy footsteps. Or opening the door and banging it against the wall caused the shelf to shudder. The jar was probably close to the edge and fell."

"No. No. and . . . No", Elizabeth responded evenly.

Jack took a deep sigh to calm himself before speaking. "I don't care what caused it to fall. I'm just glad it did or your hand would have been too close to the rattler. And we know what that means."

Elizabeth didn't say anything.

"I know that look in your eyes. You're thinking that maybe Bunny did this. Stop, Elizabeth. Don't even go there. There is no such thing as ghosts", Jack said emphatically.

"It just seems odd that the jar fell."

"A jar fell. Things happen. It doesn't mean that it was pushed off the shelf by a ghost named after a hopping mammal. It didn't fall off the shelf to keep you from getting bitten by a snake. For Pete's sake! . . . . I thought we discussed this. There is no Bunny. What's happened to you?!" Jack said with a shake of his head. "Where is my sensible smart wife?"

"I'm right here, Jack. Just think about it. Think about what's been happening. The eggs fell off the counter just at the right time for me to go outside and meet Lucy at a time when I desperately wanted a friend and -"

"So now your ghost is in charge of your social calendar?" Jack said mockingly as he interrupted her.

Elizabeth ignored his barb and continued.

"When I needed someone to move the heavy furniture, the boys saw me in the window, even though I had earlier closed the drapes. When I was frustrated and couldn't find a letter, it just blew in front of me-"

"It was the wind! You've seen wind before. It blows things. That's what wind does. And you probably had opened the drapes and just forgot."

Elizabeth looked at Jack skeptically and continued listing strange things that had happened.

"Something woke me up and saved me from the fire. I saw a woman when I was lost in the woods. Comet is acting strange."

"Comet is a cat! Cats always act strange. And since when do you base your judgment on how a cat acts?!", Jack countered.

"I keep smelling lavender! In the hotel. And here. We cleaned this whole place when we moved in and there's no lavender in here but I smell it! Don't you smell it?!"

"No, I don't! It's just your imagination. You have to be practical."

"Jack, it is not just my -–"

Elizabeth stopped talking when she noticed Jack's expression. He wasn't just frustrated with her. He wasn't angry at her. And he wasn't just worried about her.

He looked almost disappointed in himself. Tormented by something.

Elizabeth remained quiet as she watched Jack's shoulder slump in defeat.

"Elizabeth, I know you're pregnant. And I know we've gone through a lot lately, with the . . . the shooting incident in Hope Valley. And then moving here. And living in a store instead of a real house. Not having a schoolhouse. Away from your family and Abigail. But please, Elizabeth. Please be sensible. I'm worried about you and the baby if you believe in this. Please just be sensible", he pleaded with her.

"Jack, I'm fine."

"I've been thinking about this. This is because of me", he said as he ran his hand through his hair and looked down.

"This has nothing to do with you", Elizabeth said in confusion.

"It has everything to do with me! You're believing in this ghost because I haven't done a good enough job of protecting you in our marriage", he said guiltily.

"What are you talking about?"

"That's why you want to believe that there's a spirit protecting you. Because I didn't. I didn't protect you before." Jack said, looking stricken. "You said it earlier, that I'm not around to protect you all the time."

"Jack, please don't think that. I totally trust you. I didn't mean that", Elizabeth said earnestly.

"This is all my fault. I didn't protect you before with Emily Gregorson. When you got shot. When we had to run. When you fell in the river. I let you down. You don't think I can keep you and our baby safe."

"You're not to blame for all that trouble before. You've protected me plenty times ever since I first came to Coal Valley You saved me from Mr. Spurlock and then from the Toliver gang", she reminded him.

When Jack looked up at her miserably, she quickly continued. "And the stuff that happened later, that wasn't your fault. And besides that's past us. This is something different. I sense something. I know it's hard for you to understand, and I know it's not rational. But I feel something. I don't know what or why. Maybe it's because I'm pregnant. Maybe I'm just more sensitive. But something's here."

Jack looked at his pregnant irrational wife and let out sigh. "I'll just grab an apple or something for breakfast. I'll see you tonight."

* * *

Jack didn't bother coming home for lunch. And dinner was tense. He tried to pretend that he was fine with Elizabeth's believing in a ghost, but it was obvious to her that he wasn't. He was hurting and concerned.

As they cleaned up the dinner dishes, Elizabeth finally broached the subject.

"Jack, I'm sorry. I love you. And I trust in you to keep our family safe. I'm sorry. Really I am. "

"What do you say we turn in earlier tonight?" Jack asked with a weak smile.

Elizabeth could tell that he wanted to believe her.

She could also tell that he wasn't sure that she was being honest with him about trusting him to keep them safe.

"Let me go close up the front drapes", Elizabeth said as she returned his smile.

 _Ignore it. Just ignore,_ she told herself.

But no matter how hard she tried, Elizabeth couldn't ignore the scent of lavender as she walked through the front room after pulling the drapes closed and making sure the door was locked.

She also couldn't ignore the fact that she was beginning to trust Bunny to keep her and the baby safe.

* * *

The rain beat down on the roof and the wind blew the drops of water against the window pane making tapping sounds.

Elizabeth lay next to Jack listening to the thunder getting closer. She remembered something her mother had told her on her wedding day. "Men like to feel needed. No matter how much Jack loves that you're an independent strong woman, he still wants to feel that he can protect you. That you need him", she had told Elizabeth _._

When a bolt of lightning slashed through the air, illuminating the room for a split second, Elizabeth braced herself for the crack of thunder.

As the noise shattered the quiet in the room, she quickly moved closer to Jack, pressing her body up against his like a small ship trying to seek shelter in a cove.

Immediately, Jack turned onto his side, and laid an arm across her. "I've got you", he said reassuredly as he held her tight. "I've got you."

 _Okay, so I'm not really scared. But a little white lie never hurt anyo_ ne! _And it makes him feel good to comfort me_ , she realized as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of Jack holding her.

 _It's just a silly town folktale. I don't need a ghost to protect me. Or do I?_ she worried as she fell asleep in Jack's arms.

 **Up next: Chapter 6**


	6. Chapter 6- Understanding

**Chapter 6- Understanding**

"You got a lot of mail today. A package from your family. Letters from Hope Valley", Jack called out to Elizabeth as he walked in the front door after his trip to the post office late Saturday morning.

"Oooh, Thanks. I love mail", Elizabeth replied happily as she came out of the bedroom. "You have fun fishing with Michael. I've got plenty to keep me busy. I want to prepare some more lessons and then do some reading. My mother was going to send me some books. Novels and medical books. This must be it."

"I packed you a sandwich", she added as she nodded to the bag on the side table.

"Thanks, sweetie. I'll be back in a few hours", he said as he kissed her on the cheek before grabbing the bag and gathering his fishing gear.

Elizabeth watched wistfully as Jack headed out the door. Things weren't totally back to perfect between them. But they were almost there. They both had avoided mentioning ghosts since their argument. Unfortunately, much like Bunny, the topic seemed to be hovering around them. Unseen but still there.

* * *

"Doesn't it bother you that your wife believes in ghosts", Jack asked as the men sat on the edge of wooden bridge, their feet dangling off the side as their poles dipped into the river below.

Michael laughed. "Lucy believes that four leaf clovers bring us good luck. She talks to her chickens like they can understand her. She thinks rainbows are the most beautiful thing in the world. She's a bundle of energy and happiness. If she wants to believe there's a ghost protecting her during her pregnancy, what's the harm?"

"It's not realistic", Jack countered in surprise.

Michael got a serious expression on his face and was quiet for a minute before replying.

"When I was 19, I got appendicitis. We were five hours by wagon from the nearest hospital. Every minute of that trip I was going over my symptoms in my head. Having my Ma check my temperature. Analyzing ever twinge, every pain. Wondering if my appendix was getting ready to burst. Every bounce in the wagon made me grab my side and pray it wouldn't burst. Pray that we would get to the hospital in time. I ain't saying that a pregnancy's like appendicitis. But what I am saying is that for five hours, there was something in my body worrying the dickens out of me. And that was only five hours. I can't even imagine what it must be like to be a woman carrying a baby. To worry about a baby in your body for 24 hours a day. 7 days a week. For 9 months. Praying that you don't feel something going wrong. Hoping that you feel the baby moving inside you when you're supposed to. Praying that the baby is born healthy."

Michael paused for a moment. "You want to talk realistic? Lucy left her ma and pa, her six brothers and sisters, her friends, her job. All of it to come live out here with me. And in a few months she's going to go through the most physically painful thing in her life to give us a baby. If Lucy wants to believe there's a ghost protecting her, I'm not going to stop her."

Michael reached into his satchel and pulled out two beers, handing one to Jack. "If it makes it easier for you, try thinking of Bunny as a guardian angel rather than a ghost. That's what some of the other husband do."

Jack frowned and shook his head slightly at the thought of Elizabeth giving birth. "I don't know if I can handle watching Elizabeth go through childbirth knowing I can't do anything to stop the pain."

Michael took a slug of his beer. "That's why we men usually wait outside."

* * *

The fish had been delicious and Elizabeth was grateful that Jack had volunteered to make dinner and clean up while she continued to look through the medical books her mother had sent. She took a piece of chocolate from the box on the table and nibbled on it. When Jack had brought the candy home after stopping by the mercantile on his way back from fishing, she had given him a curious look. He had just smiled and said he wanted to do something nice for her.

Elizabeth now turned a page in the thick medical book and cringed at the paragraph she read before she quickly closed the cover and pushed it aside as if it was repulsive.

Jack watched as Elizabeth stared at the closed book.

"What are you thinking?" he asked curiously.

"I was remembering when Sabrina Lapointe told me about the fire and how you found her in the creek and you got trapped by the flames. And how you had to deliver her baby. Was it awful? Delivering the baby?"

Jack put down the dishtowel and the plate he had been drying. "I wouldn't say it was awful. It wasn't exactly pleasant but it wasn't awful. She probably would have preferred to have a doctor there rather than her husband's Mountie friend, but it all worked out."

"Was she in a lot of pain?"

"It's hard to tell with Sabrina. You know how tough she is. She was probably in labor for hours before I even found her. She handled it real well."

Jack watched as Elizabeth reached for the book. She opened it and read just a few more sentences before closing it and pushing it aside again.

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"About Bunny. "

"Elizabeth, it's okay. You don't have to explain", Jack interrupted gently.

"Yes, I do. I was overacting. I've been doing a lot of reading. It's normal for pregnancy to make women overly emotional. There's hormones. Worrying. A change in sense of smell. Fatigue. There's a lot going on. You were right about something. I'm scared of labor and I guess I just like idea of knowing that something's looking out for me."

"Elizabeth, it's going to be fine. I promise. We have a doctor in town. I've delivered a baby before. You're perfectly healthy. I'm sorry I was so hard on you. I have no idea what you must be going through", Jack said as he moved over to Elizabeth and wrapped her up in his arms.

"I love you", he said as he kissed her on the head while she buried her face in his chest, inhaling the scent of him. "You were handling everything so well that I guess I didn't think about how difficult being pregnant can be. You've been doing the hard part being the pregnant one, and I've just been going along on the ride. You can believe in anything you want… even a ghost. "

Jack paused for a moment, stroking Elizabeth's hair, before he spoke again.

His voice was barely above a whisper. "You're carrying my son or daughter. I cannot be prouder or more in love with you."

Before she could reply, Elizabeth burst into tears.

"Sorry", she apologized as she wiped her face on Jack's shirt. "That's just the hormones", she sobbed as tears continued to roll down her face. "You're the sweetest husband", she said as she sniffled and reached into her skirt pocket for a handkerchief.

When she pulled out the handkerchief and saw the letter embroidered on it, she laughed despite her tears. "Maybe you want to rethink this one."

Jack looked at the handkerchief and saw the "R" embroidered in blue thread.

This was the fourth handkerchief he had given her since they were courting. Each one with a monogram representing his nicknames for her. "W.D." for "walking disaster" because she had seemed to get into so much trouble when she had first come to Coal Valley. "T.O." for "the one" because that's how Jack felt about her. "M.J.T." for Mrs. Jack Thornton.

Weeks ago, when Elizabeth had unwrapped the newest box and seen the single letter stitched on the pretty white square cloth, she had smiled and guessed at the significance. Romantic? Rich? Radiant? Jack had just chuckled at her and let her keep guessing. Determined not to give up until she got it right, Elizabeth had opened up her dictionary and skimmed the words beginning with the letter R. "This just proves it was the right choice", Jack had said with a grin as she guessed word after word until she finally smiled when she found the correct one

Now, holding her on couch, looking at his tearful wife holding the handkerchief, he grinned at her. "I chose exactly right. You are the most _resilient_ woman I know."

* * *

 _I can't believe how stupid I was being. Jack was right. I was being irrational. I declare, having a baby growing in me has changed just more than my dress size. No more talk about ghosts. I'm finished with that. Done. What an idiot I was,_ Elizabeth thought as she relaxed in Jack's arms.

When she moved her head to blow her nose again, Elizabeth's eyes were drawn to Comet, who was stretched out the floor. Comet's little feline nose was twitching as if she were breathing in the scent of something.

 _I know, Comet. I smell it too. Just ignore it._ Elizabeth thought before she leaned back against Jack's strong chest _._

 _If we ignore it, maybe it will go away._

 **Next: Chapter 7. Secrets of the Mercantile**


	7. Chapter 7- The Secret of the Mercantile

**Chapter 7 – Secrets of the Mercantile & Wapos**

The mystery of the lavender was solved a few days later when Mr. MacIntre paid them a visit.

"You've done a nice job with this place. And it's real generous of you folks to turn the front room into the school", the mercantile owner remarked when he arrived at their door, carrying a ladder.

"It actually works out well. Elizabeth has an incredibly short walk to work every day and she can decorate it and put up school stuff any way she wants", Jack said with a smile. "What can we help you with?"

"I'm running out of soaps and things at the store. I could have sworn I had another box somewhere so I checked my invoices and sure enough I was supposed to have another box. I couldn't find it anywhere and then I got to thinking that I had probably left it here when I moved out."

"I'm sorry, Mr. MacIntre, but we didn't come across a box of anything of yours."

"You wouldn't have. I didn't have enough room in this building. That's why I moved down the street. I used to have to stow some things up in the rafters and attic crawl space here. Mind if I take a look?" he asked as he motioned with his ladder.

* * *

"Found it! And a box of nails and screws. I was wondering about that too," Mr. MacIntre remarked a few minutes later as he called down from the top step of the ladder.

"Give me a hand here, Sergeant?" the man asked as he handed the boxes down to Jack as Elizabeth watched.

"You know. I don't believe I ever gave you a welcome gift. How about something pretty?" Mr. MacIntre asked as he took a box from Jack, set it on Elizabeth's desk, and blew off a layer of dust.

"I got all sorts of pretty smelling stuff in here. The ladies love this stuff," he said as he opened the box and began looking through it.

"Lemon verbena soap, lemon verbena sachets, rose soap, rose sachets, jasmine soap, jasmine sachets, lavender soaps, lavender sachets. Whew! That's some strong smelling stuff. I got a lot of lavender stuff in here. That's the scent the hotel likes me to stock. They keep these sachets in the closets. How'd you like something? My gift to you. Any scent you like."

Elizabeth didn't miss Jack's look of relief when Mr. MacIntre mentioned the lavender sachets and soaps.

* * *

Everything had been explained. The wind had blown the letter. The cat or the dog had nudged Elizabeth's shoulder while she had dreamed on the couch. She had accidentally nudged the bowl of eggs off the counter. Her loud footsteps and banging of the pantry door had caused the bacon fat jar to fall. She had simply forgotten that she had opened the curtains when the boys had seen her and helped her move the furniture. The jingling she had thought was the bell above the door had been Rip's dog tags.

The woman in the woods had simply been a woman in the woods.

The mysterious lavender scent floating through the home had merely been sachets and soaps in the rafters which Comet's sensitive cat nose and Elizabeth's now sensitive sense of smell due to her pregnancy had been able to pick up even through the box storing the items.

Now that the mysterious lavender scent had been explained, Elizabeth should have felt better. And part of her did.

But part of her didn't.

The practical, intelligent, educated Elizabeth knew that Bunny wasn't real, but that didn't stop the pregnant sentimental Elizabeth from feeling like somehow she had lost a friend.

 _I miss the idea of having Bunny watch over me,_ Elizabeth realized with a sigh as she got ready for her day.

After a big breakfast, Jack had left and wouldn't be back for two days. The mercantile house, which Jack jokingly called the "Mouse" after deciding that it was a better portmanteau than the one Lisa Anne had come up with, felt empty.

Elizabeth glanced over at the medical books on her nightstand and shook aside the thoughts of labor. The pain. The tearing of her body. The bleeding. The things that could go wrong.

* * *

"A lady in Hope Valley had twins. I didn't help deliver them but I was there. Gosh, I hope I don't have twins. I don't think I could handle it", Elizabeth said worriedly as she sat at Lucy's kitchen table and watched the young woman knead dough for loaves of bread.

"Did you eat a lot of sweet potatoes just before you got pregnant?" Lucy asked as she picked up the ball of dough and then threw it down the counter before pounding it with her fists.

"What?" Elizabeth asked with a furrowed brow.

"If you eat a lot of sweet potatoes just before you get pregnant, you'll have twins."

Elizabeth didn't say anything as she took a sip of lemonade but raised her eyebrows skeptically at Lucy's statement.

"Mrs. Hendricks in my old neighborhood had three sets of twins. She always said it was because she had sweet potatoes a couple times a week. And each of her twin girls had twins of their own! Because they ate sweet potatoes. Her twin boys got married but their wives didn't have twins. Mrs. Hendricks said it was because the boys never did eat their vegetables and neither did their wives", Lucy said as she threw more flour on the counter and then wiped some onto her wooden rolling pin.

"You honestly don't believe that, do you, Lucy?" Elizabeth asked.

Lucy smiled. "I always thought maybe having twins was a trait inherited through the female side of the family, but then what do I know?"

* * *

"You look frazzled", Jack said when he came home at the end of trip and saw Elizabeth sitting on the couch.

"You've been gone for two days. I missed you last night, and I had awful day today", Elizabeth said pitifully.

"What happened?" Jack asked as he took off his jacket and sat down next to her.

Without even letting Jack take off his boots or wash up after his travels, Elizabeth began miserably telling Jack about her woes.

"I slept horribly without you last night. And then today at school, Millie forgot her lunch. So I went to the kitchen and made her a quick peanut butter sandwich. She took one look at it and ran shrieking out of the building."

"Why?"

"It was my fault. I forgot she's afraid of peanut butter", Elizabeth said with annoyance.

"Don't ask", she added with a sigh when Jack started to open his mouth.

"I ran after her but she was too fast and made it all the way to the land office, where her dad works."

"That's only four doors down the street", Jack said with a laugh.

"You try running in a dress in the heat when you're pregnant!" Elizabeth responded indignantly.

"Sorry", Jack smiled. "What happened next?"

"When I got back to the class, the Durand boys were fighting. Yelling at each other across the room and then shoving one another."

"What were they fighting about?"

"I have no idea. It was all in French! French this! French that!" Elizabeth said as she threw up her hands in frustration. "Everything sounds so emotional in French!"

"Then, Lisa Anne was frightened by the yelling so she grabbed onto my dress. I was trying to settle down the boys, and she insisted on clinging to me the whole time. I couldn't pry her little fingers off no matter how hard I tried", Elizabeth said irritably as she remembered the incident.

"I finally got the class in order and managed to get Lisa Anne to sit down. Although, I swear she made a tear in my dress. I was giving the class their spelling test and that's when I noticed one of the twins copying off of the other one."

"So? Why didn't you just punish him?"

"I couldn't figure out which twin was copying! When I asked them to come to the front of the room, they moved around too much. I can't tell the apart!"

"Don't they sit in assigned seats?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes in exasperation at Jack. "They sit on the floor!" she yelled as she motioned with her hand to the wooden planks.

"That does sound like a pretty bad day", Jack replied as he tried not to laugh.

"And I haven't even felt the baby kick yet", she added angrily as she picked up a pillow and threw it back down on the couch.

"And I hope you're not expecting twins because I don't want them and I didn't eat any sweet potatoes anyway!" she added with a huff.

Without saying anything, Jack got up off the couch and went into the kitchen. He came out a minute later with a glass of water which he handed to Elizabeth.

"Okay. I have no idea what sweet potatoes have to do with anything. And I'm not even going to ask because you'll probably just get mad at me. But, I will tell you that I love you. And I've missed you."

Elizabeth crossed her arms and frowned even as she felt her irritability fading away.

"You've had bad days at school before. What's really bothering you is that you haven't felt the baby move, isn't it."

"Yes!" Elizabeth wailed.

"That stuff you read. Those women you talked to. They all said it probably wouldn't be before the 18th week at the earliest, especially with your first pregnancy."

"I'm 19 weeks along", Elizabeth said with a mixture of sadness and worry.

"Remember what you once told me? Love is patient. You were willing to wait as long as it took for me to wake up when I was in the flood and had exposure. Now, you just have to wait as long as it takes for the baby to decide to kick you hard enough to feel it."

Jack chuckled. "I can't believe you're hoping your child kicks you. Once it's born, you won't want that."

Elizabeth leaned her head on Jack's shoulder. "You're right. I just wish I could feel it", she said sorrowfully.

"If it makes you feel any better. I haven't felt the baby kick yet either", Jack said with a snicker, causing Elizabeth to give a weak smile.

"You go get washed up from your trip. Just put your dirty clothes on the floor." Elizabeth said with a sigh as she straightened up. "I'll make dinner. You must be hungry. And tired after your trip."

* * *

"What are you making?" Jack asked as entered the kitchen twenty minutes later and he looked at the frying pan in which Elizabeth was stirring onions, green peppers, and tomatoes.

"Omelets. They'll be ready in a minute."

"You forgot the eggs", Jack observed.

"Oh, darn!" Elizabeth responded in dismay. "I knew I was forgetting something."

Jack chuckled as he poured himself some orange juice and then handed a half a dozen eggs to Elizabeth. "So, we're having breakfast for dinner?"

"I wanted something simple. I've been so busy with school. I think part of the problem is that the last teacher and I don't exactly teach the same way. He was all about the rote method. You know, making the students memorize stuff. I like teaching by having the students experiment and be involved and question things. It's been an adjustment for the students."

"I'm sure they'll do fine. They probably like your teaching better. By the way, I'm down to my last pair of socks", Jack said as he got two plates down from the cupboard. "Where's the laundry?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Jack. I was supposed to pick it up from Mrs. Wilkerson today after school and I forgot!"

"I'll go get it after dinner", Jack offered.

* * *

Two hours later, Elizabeth slipped out of her thin robe, pulled back the bed covers, and climbed in between the sheets.

"I'm sorry about dinner and the laundry, Jack. I know you've had a really hard last couple days yourself. You were probably starving and tired when you got home. I guess I'm just a little absent-minded and busy", she said as reached across the bed and kissed Jack on the cheek.

"Dinner turned out fine. Once you added the eggs", he said with a laugh as he turned out the light and put his head on his pillow. "And I totally blame the pregnancy for your odd behavior", he added good-naturedly as he closed his weary eyes.

"Jack?"

"Yeah?" he said sleepily.

"Thanks for putting up with everything. About Bunny. And me forgetting stuff. And I know I've been taking a lot of naps. And not liking the smell of your shoe polish. "

"It's okay. It's only four more months", he mumbled as he started to fall asleep.

"49."

"What'd you say?" Jack murmured, thinking he hadn't heard correctly.

"49 more months", Elizabeth said matter-of-factly.

"What in the world are you talking about?" Jack opened his eyes and looked at her curiously.

It was then that Elizabeth told Jack what she had known for more than a year. Ever since Hamilton when they were still engaged and she had gone to a gypsy woman's trailer. Elizabeth hadn't believed the woman's first tarot card prediction. But when it had come true, Elizabeth had gone back for another reading. That was the far more important prediction.

Up until now, Elizabeth had never told anyone about the gypsy woman and what she had told Elizabeth.

" . . it was the most interesting trailer, Jack. It had a china hutch in it and . . .

. . . she was right when she said the man in the drawing would run away from me into someone else's arms, and I would have lots of money . . .

. . . I was wearing red. And I got all that reward money.

. . . I went back again. . . you were dropping off a check . . .

. . . we're going to have six children . . . isn't that exciting?

. . . mostly boys . . ."

"Do the math, Jack. Four more months of this pregnancy and then another five whole pregnancies. That's 49 more months in all", Elizabeth said happily as she gave him another kiss goodnight and settled her head down on her pillow.

As Elizabeth slept peacefully, Jack lay in bed staring at the ceiling.

"Good Lord!" he exclaimed.

* * *

Two days later, Elizabeth grimaced and put her hands on the kitchen counter, holding onto it until the cramp subsided. "Damn, that doesn't feel good", she said quietly, as her eyes welled with tears.

She had been having cramps most of the evening, but had kept quiet, not wanting to alarm Jack. Or herself. Somewhere a part of her thought that if she ignored her body, her feelings of cramping, dizziness, and the headache would go away. She was not quite five months along in her pregnancy. Far too soon to deliver a baby that could survive.

Elizabeth closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to stave off the feelings of dizziness that threatened to overcome her as soon as the cramp subsided.

"I think I'm going to be sick", she said when Jack noticed her clutching the counter and he rushed over to her side.

Her body was hot, heavy and feeling altogether unnatural.

"Elizabeth. What's wrong? "

"I don't feel so good", she responded worriedly. "I've been having cramps. And my head hurts. I just need to lie down."

"I'm going to get the doctor. Can you make it to the bed?"

When Elizabeth didn't respond but looked around weakly, Jack swooped her up in his arms. Carrying her the few steps to the bedroom, he kicked open the door, and then laid her down on top of the covers. "I'll be right back."

* * *

As Jack rushed towards the doctor's office, he noticed the woman dressed in simple clothing coming down the steps of the office. She pushed her long dark hair away from her face as she saw Jack, his face etched with worry, approaching her.

"The doctor's not in. He's out at one of the homesteads", she explained before he could even ask.

"Are you his nurse?"

"What's wrong? Is it Elizabeth?"

"She doesn't feel good. She's got cramps."

The woman gave Jack a reassuring smile. "I saw her outside earlier today. I was going to stop by this evening to check on her anyway. I'm not surprised that she's feeling ill. She's dehydrated. Too much time in the heat and she's so busy with teaching that she forgets to drink enough water."

"Can you please come check on her?" Jack pleaded.

"I'm off on another visit right now. And the doctor won't be back until tomorrow morning. But I can tell you what to do. Does she have a headache?"

"Yes", Jack replied worriedly.

"A little faint? dizzy?"

"Yes"

"I want you to give Elizabeth a large glass of water. Tell her to drink the whole thing at once. Then I want you to give her another large glass of water, this time with a teaspoon of salt in it. Make her drink that too. She should start feeling better within 20 minutes. The cramps are her body's way of telling her she needs to drink more. If she stays dehydrated, it can lead to early labor. And that would be disastrous. After she's finished two large glasses, keep having her sip water throughout the evening. You can give her two aspirin for the headache, but only after she's had the water. She should have at least three full glasses of water before bed."

Jack looked worried. "Can't you stop by to examine her now?"

"I can't. I have somewhere else I have to be. Have her drink the water. She'll be fine. I promise. It happens to a lot of women. Now hurry home to her. Don't forget, salt in the second glass. It's important."

"Thank you. I don't even know your name."

"Wapos. Now hurry home to her."

* * *

Jack hovered over Elizabeth all evening. She had been too tired and her head hurt so much that she had pushed away the first glass of water. But Jack had insisted that she drink it all.

When he quickly gave her the second glass, she grimaced at the salty taste but drank it anyway.

Elizabeth handed the empty glass back to Jack, who quickly refilled it and brought it back to her, this time with two aspirin.

"Sip it slowly. I want the whole glass gone in the next hour."

"Jack, I can't drink anymore", she complained.

"You should have thought about that all day when you weren't drinking enough", he said sternly.

"Jack, you can act angry all you want but I know you love me and are worried. You always get stern with me when you're scared for me", she said when she looked at him and gave him a weak smile.

"You're right." Jack touched his lips to her forehead. "Now drink some more water so I stop worrying."

* * *

An hour later, Elizabeth was resting comfortably in bed.

"Are you still having cramps?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "I feel better. Just a little tired now. But much better"

"No more dizziness?"

"I don't think so. But since I'm lying down in bed, it's kind of hard to tell", she said with a smile.

"How's your headache?"

"Almost gone."

"You know I'm worried sick about you."

Elizabeth reached for his hand. "I know", she said with small smile. "And I am going to let you spoil me. But not hover over me. Come to bed and let's get some sleep."

* * *

Jack lay restlessly in bed for hours. Never fully succumbing to sleep. Finally, he got up and walked into the bathroom, getting himself a glass of water. He smelled the faint scent of lavender wafting through the air in the bathroom and as he walked back into the bedroom, reminding him of Mr. MacIntre's soaps and sachets which he had given Elizabeth.

Jack climbed into bed and gently moved his hand to Elizabeth's belly, keeping it there. Wanting to touch her, but not wanting to disturb her sleep.

Jack listened to the leaves rustling in the wind outside the bedroom window as he lay awake worried about his wife and the baby inside her.

"Please be okay", he whispered.

Five minutes later, he felt it.

It was so unexpected that he wasn't even quite sure at first what had just happened.

But then, almost immediately, he felt it again.

"Elizabeth?", he whispered excitedly as his face broke out in a smile.

When she didn't move, except for the steady rhythm of her breathing, Jack didn't try to wake her. She needed her sleep.

Elizabeth had another 49 months of babies. Plenty of time to feel babies kicking her. Kicking and moving to let her know that they were alright.

Jack would let her get her sleep tonight. _I'll tell her in the morning_ , he thought happily before he fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Jack stopped by the doctor's office before heading to the livery.

"Morning Doc, I was wondering if you can you stop by and check on Elizabeth. I think she's fine, but if you could check on her, I'd really appreciate it."

"What seems to be the problem?"

* * *

"I'm sorry I wasn't here last evening to help out. I was over at the Simpson's homestead all night. Seems like you did just fine with your Mountie training", the doctor said with a smile after Jack had explained everything

"I think your nurse was right. Elizabeth felt much better after drinking water, and I've had her drinking it constantly to keep hydrated. She seems fine this morning."

"It's important for pregnant women to keep hydrated. I'll be happy to stop by. I'll walk over to your place with you now", the doctor said as he picked up his medical bag. "But, Sergeant Thornton, I don't have a nurse."

"The woman I saw coming out of your office last night. I thought she was your nurse."

"My nurse left three months ago. I haven't gotten a replacement yet. I sure could have used one during the diphtheria scare."

"But she was leaving your office?" Jack said in confusion. "I thought it was your new nurse."

"My office was locked last evening. I have to keep it locked because of the medications. It was locked when I came back this morning. No one was there. Perhaps she's a patient of mine. Looking for me and found the door locked and me gone. Did you get her name?

"Wapos. Mrs. Wapos"

"Sorry, I don't know anyone in town by that name. What'd she look like?"

"She was a dark haired woman. Maybe Native American. About 25 to 30 years old. Dressed kind of old fashioned. Pregnant- -", Jack's voice trailed off as he described the woman. For the first time, he really thought about the details of how she had looked and their encounter.

"Doesn't sound like a patient of mine. Well, whoever she was. She gave you the right advice. Sounds like she kept your wife from going into premature labor. Someone was looking out for you."

* * *

"Jack, what are you looking for?" Elizabeth asked after she had walked the doctor to the door. After checking her out, the doctor had assured her that she was perfectly healthy and she had promised to take care of herself.

"I . . I was just looking for that soap and sachet you got from Mr. MacIntre as a welcome gift", Jack said as he closed the medicine cabinet.

"I haven't used the soap yet. It's in the pantry and the sachet's in my top dresser drawer. Why?"

"Just curious. I thought maybe I'd buy some more", Jack said as he moved to the pantry, tying to act calm while his insides were feeling jumbled.

Jack moved aside some things until he found the bar of soap. He read the name of the scent written in simple ink on the brown paper wrapper and felt a sense of unease. He stared at the writing and then quickly moved to the dresser.

Opening the top dresser drawer, he pushed aside Elizabeth's clothes until he found what he was looking for. He grabbed the small cloth bag with the silk ribbon and held it to his nose, inhaling the scent.

"Elizabeth", he called out to her. "These are both lemon verbena!"

Elizabeth walked over from the front room and paused in the doorway. "I know. I like lemon verbena."

"Didn't you get lavender?" His voice almost betrayed his anxiety.

"No. I thought we had enough of lavender. I figured you'd never want it in the house again", Elizabeth said.

"You didn't get anything lavender from Mr. MacIntre? No soaps? No sachets?"

"No, Jack. Just lemon verbena. There's no lavender in our house", Elizabeth asked with furrowed brow. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine. I'm just going out for something. I'll be back in five minutes."

* * *

 _The postman was no help,_ Jack realized in frustration as he left the post office a few minutes later and headed towards the Mountie office. _I thought he would know everyone in town._

* * *

Jack yanked open his desk drawers and hastily shoved things aside. When he found the manual underneath a pad of paper, he pulled it out and stared at the cover before sitting down in his chair.

 _Royal Northwest Mounted Police Manual (RNMPM) 2609: "Basic Vocabulary of Indian Tribes of North America"_

 _Cree,_ he mumbled as he flipped through the manual looking for the right chapter.

 _Cree._

 _Cree_

 _Here it is_.

Jack ran his finger down the pages looking for the word.

 _. . . Wapiskaw, . . . Wapiw, . . . Wapos._

Jack paused when he got to the word. Even before he looked at the English definition of Wapos, Jack suspected what it would be. But he looked anyway.

Rabbit.

There it was. Printed next to Wapos. Rabbit.

 _Bunny,_ Jack thought as he slumped in his chair and ran his hand through his hair.

* * *

Ten minutes later when Elizabeth crossed the street to check on Jack, she found him sitting in his desk chair, staring at nothing in particular.

"Jack, is everything alright?"

Jack closed the manual and stood up from the chair. "Of course, everything's fine", he said with a smile as he walked across the room. "Everything's just fine. Let's go home to our 'Mouse", he added happily as he put his arm around her and led her to the door.

 **Up next: Chapter 8**


	8. Chapter 8 - Home

**Dear Readers: As always, I like my vignettes to come full circle. You may recognize the first sentence of this chapter as the first sentence of Chapter 1.**

 **Chapter 8-Home**

The dirt made a thudding sound as it landed after being tossed by the men with shovels.

Shovelful after shovelful.

It wasn't the urgent sound of a shovel hurriedly moving dirt to shore up a bank against flooding waters.

And it wasn't the worried sound of a shovel digging in the dry ground in the desperate hope of finding a well of water to nourish fields and people.

And it definitely wasn't the sad sound of finality of a shovelful of dirt hitting wood in a church cemetery.

It was the hopeful joyous sound made when a town joined together to build a new schoolhouse.

The official letter had arrived last week informing the town that the province government had approved funds for building a new school. The government, in recognition that the town had purposely burned down a perfectly good building, had only provided a limited amount of money, not the entire amount the town had requested.

Not to be discouraged, the town realized that if the citizens volunteered their labor, there would be enough money for building supplies as well as enough to buy desks and a chalkboard.

And so, the town that had once joined together to burn down the old school, now joined together to build another one.

Elizabeth stood apart from the crowd of men shoveling dirt, pounding hammers, and cutting wood.

She looked over at them and smiled as she heard snippets of their conversations. Jack, who was holding up a wooden post as Michael hammered nails into it, was laughing with the other man as they talked about hunting and fishing and womenfolk. The barber and the blacksmith talked politics. The bartender and his favorite customers traded stories of life in the west, while Mr. MacIntre from the mercantile explained the newest merchandise he was ordering.

In Elizabeth's skirt pocket, were the two pieces of mail she had received just that morning.

The letter written in perfect penmanship was from a friend of hers, a fellow student from her days at teachers' college. The woman's school had recently received all new textbooks, and, hearing of Elizabeth's predicament, she was sending a crate of the used, but still useful, textbooks to Bear Creek.

The other envelope, the one with the Hamilton postmark, contained a letter from Elizabeth's parents. They had offered to provide rulers, paste, boxes of paper, and other supplies as a gift.

Elizabeth smiled when she thought of those items and also about Jack's gift. The large rug, his gift to Elizabeth, had arrived that morning at the train depot.

Elizabeth had already told the students about story time and how enjoyable it would be to lay on the soft rug and close their eyes, dreaming of faraway places, while she read to them from her favorite novels and story books. Aesop's Fables. Peter Pan. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Grimms' Fairy Tales.

Places so unlike Bear Creek that the children would scarcely be able to sleep at night without dreaming of talking creatures and magical spells.

The children were so eager for the experience that Jack hadn't waited for the new schoolhouse to be finished, and had already unrolled the rug at the Mercantile house for tomorrow's classes.

The building. The books. The chalkboard. The desks. Even the erasers. It was all being replaced.

Elizabeth, the unrestrainable optimist when it came to the subject of education, had never given up on teaching in Bear Creek. Despite the lack of students and a school when she had first arrived in the sickly town, she had never considered allowing a child to go without knowing how to read a good book.

Books were meant to be read. And she was meant to teach.

Now, even though she knew that she could teach anywhere, Elizabeth was tickled to be getting a schoolhouse.

* * *

Elizabeth waved to people from a distance as she saw them across the street. A few simply waved back, but most ran over to greet her with smiles on their faces, thinking of the excitement of the new school.

Mothers stopped by to tell Elizabeth how impressed they were with her teaching.

Or to complain about the amount of homework.

Or to thank her for the extra help she had given some of their sons and daughters.

Or to ask if science was really that important for a girl to know.

Mr. Durand, with his thick French accent, stopped by to apologize for his boys fighting in class so often. He told her that he hoped that she understood that the boys simply had a lot of energy.

Elizabeth, trying to decipher the man's unique pronunciation of English words, thought the man said that he and his wife loved their sons very much and were praying for them. However, she realized with a start that he could have said that he and his wife loved their sins very much and were paying for them. _Gosh, I hope it was the former!_

"Mrs. Thornton!", yelled Lisa Anne as she ran over to Elizabeth and snuggled against her. The little girl's mother quickly followed after her and tried to pry her daughter's tiny fingers off of Elizabeth's skirt.

"Sorry", the woman apologized as Elizabeth looked down at her skirt and saw smeared chocolate fingerprints.

"It's okay", Elizabeth said as the woman took a melting bar of chocolate from Lisa Anne's hands and expressed gratitude for Elizabeth's gentle nature with the little girl who adored the town's newest teacher.

Elizabeth, with her belly now swollen so that there was no doubt she was expecting, stood in the fresh air. Enjoying the warmth of the sunlight and the warmth of the townspeople.

Children ran around the work-site. Yelling and playing hopscotch and other games in the street, while the women carried baskets full of muffins and jam. Sandwiches for the workers. Pitchers of lemonade or water.

* * *

"This is getting to be a habit", Jack said with a grin as he approached Elizabeth. "Building you a schoolhouse. Am I going to have to do this in every town we move to?"

Elizabeth chuckled. "It's a good thing I'm not a princess after all, or then you'd have to build me a castle in each town."

"I'd make it with a big moat all around it. So I could keep you all to myself", Jack said with a grin before he took a gulp of water from his canteen.

"Have I told you lately that I love you?" Elizabeth asked tenderly as she watched Jack wipe the sweat from his brow.

The way she looked at him made Jack feel like she just may worship him.

"Yes. But you can do it again", he replied with a grin as he moved in for a kiss.

* * *

Jack looked down at his hands and took off his gloves when Elizabeth offered him a sandwich from one of the many plates which now lined the table made of a board of wood stretched across sawhorses.

They weren't winter gloves, but thick leather gloves. The type worn for working. When he rode his horse, Jack almost always wore gloves. It was the practical thing to do to keep his hands from getting blisters or rein burn.

He probably would have worn them anyway while working on the school. But he was humored by Elizabeth's absolute insistence that he wear them.

"I don't want you getting any splinters or calluses", she had told him as they had left the house with his tools and her basket that morning.

"Elizabeth, my hands are used to hard labor. It's not that big a deal."

"Your hands may very well be the first hands to ever touch our child. Especially if the doctor is out of town and you deliver this baby. And I want our baby to feel your strong masculine hands without them having any calluses or blisters.

"The baby is not coming for months."

"Then you have months to keep your hands in perfect condition. Nice and soft."

"How am I suppose to keep my hands nice and soft for the next three and half months?" Jack asked skeptically.

"By wearing your gloves", Elizabeth instructed him as if it were the obvious answer.

 _I suppose they'll keep my hands soft,_ Jack thought as he now looked at the fine stitching of the gloves. _Our baby should have soft hands holding him . . . or her._

* * *

Hours later, a dirty and exhausted Jack gathered his tools and his wife and headed down the street.

When he stopped walking on the sidewalk outside their home, he smiled at Elizabeth and motioned towards the large plate glass window. "We'll have to change that soon."

"Not just yet. I love looking at it", Elizabeth said with a grin as she paused to admire the artistic work which one her older students had completed a few weeks earlier.

The large painted green letters of "MacIntre's Mercantile" had been scraped off the glass and replaced with bright blue letters. The words, painted in letters twelve inches high, clearly spelled out the purposes of the building.

"Schoolhouse & Thornton Home"

Elizabeth watched as Jack chuckled and put the key into the front door, unlocking it, and then swinging it open. The movement of the door caused the jingling of the bell over it to greet them. The friendly musical welcome was almost drowned out by the sound of Rip giving a welcome bark and Comet walking over to the couple and purring to be picked up by Jack.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, the couple ignored the pot of water as it came to a rolling boil on the cast iron stove. The tea bags lay forgotten on the kitchen counter next to the ceramic mugs as Elizabeth, her back pressed against the kitchen wall, unbuttoned Jack's shirt.

"I want you desperately", he whispered hoarsely in her ear as she ran her fingers through his hair and moved her mouth along his neck.

Jack hurriedly untucked Elizabeth's blouse. His fingers fumbled slightly with her undergarment until he found what he was searching for; her soft bare skin.

"I am so glad you don't wear a corset any more", he said with a sigh as he kissed her neck and moved his hands farther up her body.

When Elizabeth arched her back, allowing him even more access to her body, Jack made a throaty sound of pleasure and pushed against her soft feminine form. He took her mouth in his again.

She loved the warm moist taste of him.

Keeping his mouth on hers, Jack blindly grabbed one of her thighs and raised it up against his hips, where she wrapped it around his waist.

Soon realizing that the wall and the audience of Rip and Comet didn't provide the most ideal location, a heavily breathing Elizabeth broke away and took Jack's hand in hers. Without a word, she began leading him out of the kitchen. She hated that his lips were off of her even for the few seconds it would take to walk from the hard kitchen wall to the bed's soft mattress.

As Elizabeth approached the bed, her outstretched arm leading Jack, she felt him stop in the doorway. His body refused to enter the bedroom. When she looked over her shoulder, Jack pulled his hand out of hers.

"I can't do this", he said abruptly.

"Do what?" a perplexed Elizabeth asked in confusion.

"This!" he said as he motioned to himself, then to her, and then to the bed. "I can't do this."

"Why not?" she asked in astonishment.

"I'm just not in the mood", he said with a shrug.

"Jack, you're always in the mood. What's going on?" Elizabeth asked with a laugh.

"Nothing. I just remembered that I have some work to work on."

"Some work to work on?" Elizabeth asked skeptically.

"Yep"

"You are turning me down because you have some work to work on?" she said as she raised her eyebrows in disbelief and watched him button up his shirt.

"Yeah. I should get going."

"Where?!" she exclaimed in bewilderment.

"To the Mountie office. To do my work."

Jack paused for a moment and looked at his wife and then at the bed as if trying to decide what to do.

"Okay. So, I'm going to go now. To work", he said as if trying to convince himself that he was making the right choice.

"The only thing you need to work on is our dialogue", Elizabeth said humorously.

"What?"

"Our dialogue. Talk to me. We haven't been intimate in over a week. You've been tired. You thought you were getting a cold. Then you said you pulled your back. You had a headache one night. You spent one night taking care of your horse because you thought that he had colic . . . which he didn't. What's going on?"

"Nothing. It's just been a long week. Why don't we do this another time?" Jack said as he tucked his shirt back into his pants and quickly reached for his shoes.

When Elizabeth stood there flabbergasted at the turn of events, Jack looked down at his shoes, brushing imaginary dust from them. "I may be a few hours. Don't bother waiting up".

"Jack, I am your wife. Young, fairly attractive, glowing with pregnancy. Meanwhile, my hormones are so out of whack that I want to have sex with you every time I see you. You're going to have to do better than 'I have some work to work on'", she told him firmly.

"Jack", she said sternly when he didn't reply.

Her tone made him feel like a student being reprimanded for cheating on a test.

Jack let out a deep sigh and avoided looking at Elizabeth when he finally responded.

"It's Bunny."

"Bunny?" Elizabeth asked in bewilderment. "The ghost?! Jack, I told you I don't believe in her anymore. I promise."

"I know. I don't either. But still –" Jack's voice trailed off as he tried to think of something rational to say.

"We didn't let our parents, our former relationships and friendships, our jobs, or our social upbringings ruin our relationship. And now, you're actually telling me that a ghost that neither one of us believes in is keeping us apart", Elizabeth said in surprise.

"Yeah, . . . well there's something I haven't told you yet."

"What are you talking about?" Elizabeth furrowed her brows as she looked at Jack. "What haven't you told me?"

"Remember the night you had the cramps and we felt the baby move for the first time?"

" _You_ felt the baby move. I didn't feel it until two days later", Elizabeth reminded him.

"Okay. Whatever. The point is that night something kind of weird happened."

* * *

Ten minutes later, the couple was still in the bedroom. But still not touching.

Jack sat on the edge of the bed while Elizabeth stood in the doorway staring at him and refusing to let him leave.

"So, let me get this straight. You think you saw a ghost that you told me didn't exist so now we can't have sex?"

Jack nodded feebly.

"I am so confused. Why can't we have sex because you think you saw a ghost?"

"Isn't it obvious?!" Jack said as he looked at her in bewilderment.

"Nooooo", Elizabeth responded, dragging the word out as if she were talking to a child.

"Because she might be watching!", Jack exclaimed as he moved his head, nervously looking around the room.

Elizabeth bit her lip to keep from smiling. "Aaah, okay. Now it's making more sense. You're worried that a ghost, that may or may not exist, will watch us being intimate. So you've been avoiding you and me being "us" for more than a week.

Jack looked sheepish.

"And how long did you think you would avoid 'us'"? Elizabeth asked.

Jack frowned. "I hadn't thought that far in advance."

"Considering that we're stationed here for another 10 months, maybe you should have thought of that", Elizabeth said in exasperation.

"It's been hard to think!" Jack said defensively. "Between a ghost, and wanting you. And not having you. It's been a really tough week and a half!"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "We are two rational people. There are no such things as ghosts."

"Guardian angel", Jack spoke up as he looked at Elizabeth.

"What?"

"I prefer the term guardian angel."

"Whatever. It doesn't matter. She won't watch us having sex ", Elizabeth said as it were an obvious fact.

"Why not?"

"First of all, even if she does exist, and I'm not saying she does. But even if she does, I don't think she's interested in that. Her forte is helping pregnant women with their pregnancies, not . . . not that other stuff. Second, she's not generally here when you're here. She usually visited me when I was alone. When you're here, she trusts you to protect me."

"She was here when I was here that night. When you had your cramps!"

" _If_ she was, and that's a big _if_. Then it was just to check on me because you had seemed so worried earlier . . . . .

And third, we would know if she were here."

"How?"

"We would _smell the lavender_."

"I guess you're right", Jack said, as he suddenly felt hopeful. "We _would_ smell the lavender!"

"And we don't smell it now, do we?"

"No, we don't", Jack said happily. "I don't smell any lavender! Do you?"

"No, I don't. Now I'm going to finish getting undressed and climb into that bed. Are you going to join me?"

'Do you really want to have _sex_ with me _every time_ you see me?" Jack asked in astonishment as he watched her unbuttoning her blouse.

"Yes!" Elizabeth exclaimed as she picked up a pillow and threw it at him. "Now get into bed and ravish me."

* * *

The rain pelted against the window pane as the flash of lightning and sound of thunder woke up Elizabeth from her sleep.

As she stirred on her side, Jack reached his arm across her bare body, putting a hand on her plump belly.

"I've got you", he told her as he snuggled closer to her, pressing his naked muscular torso against her curved back.

"I know", she said quietly with a smile. "I love you too."

"Are you sleeping?" she asked a few minutes later as the thunder got louder and more frequent, causing her body to jump in surprise each time she heard it.

"Nah. It's too hard to fall back asleep with the storm. You?"

"I can't sleep either. I keep thinking about what it's going to be like. When we have a baby", Elizabeth answered as she placed her hand on top of Jack's and then intertwined their fingers.

"I expect it won't be much different."

"How can you say that?" Elizabeth asked in surprise.

"Life with you is already more interesting and incredible than I ever could have imagined. I expect it will remain that way", Jack answered honestly and with a chuckle.

"It's a good thing we're married to each other because I was thinking the same thing", Elizabeth said with a grin as she turned her body onto her other side to look at Jack. Their faces just inches apart.

Even in the dark, they could see how much they loved each other.

Although it was scientifically and rationally impossible for the baby to know what was going on outside the womb, it seemed to give a little kick of happy acknowledgement the moment Elizabeth's and Jack's lips touched.

Of course, that could have just been a coincidence.

You decide.

 **The End of Vignette Nine**

 **Dear Readers, Another Vignette has come to an end. Thanks for reading and reviewing. I hope you enjoyed reading my story as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

 **Check out Vignette 10 - Snowfall (It's just one chapter) and then Vignette 11 - Wishes and the Necessary Vessel.**

 **Also, please check out my other story, Reversal of Fortune under the name woolenslipper for a different take on our favorite couple.**

 **Lavender is in full bloom right now, at least on the East Coast of the United States. So, if you happen to smell the lingering scent of lavender, a guardian angel might just be near.** **Or maybe it's just the plant. :)**

 **P.S. I love reading your reviews!**


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